Qatar Airways marked the commencement of its Osaka/Kansai to Doha route on March 1st with a celebration held at The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka.
Tourism bureau and travel agency officials were among the business partners invited, and the event featured a screening of a video highlighting the attractions of Doha. The launch was also celebrated with performances by drummers, koto players, and musicians.
Mr. Cheon Yu Chang, Head of North Asia Commercial Operations, stated, “Osaka was the first city Qatar Airways served in Japan starting in 2005, followed by launches in Narita in 2010, and Haneda in 2014. Since commencing operations, demand for routes to Japan has continued to grow, and we have been dedicated to serving this important market. We are pleased that Osaka has rejoined Qatar Airways’ network of over 170 cities globally, offering the people of Kansai the opportunity to use our services again.”
Since the lifting of COVID-19 measures in Japan in May 2023, visitors from Qatar to Japan have surged by over 120% compared to 2019, and according to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), about 90% of citizens from Gulf countries are eager to visit Japan.
Mr. Chang added, “We are planning to increase the number of flights between Japan and Doha further, to meet travel demand and to improve the convenience for passengers from Japan.”
Qatar Airways currently operates a daily round trip between Tokyo/Narita and Osaka/Kansai to Doha, in addition to a code-share flight with Japan Airlines (JAL) between Tokyo/Haneda and Doha, totaling three round trips per day. The code-share with JAL extends its network to 31 cities within Japan.
