The World Cup is here. This article was published on Sunday, November 20th, when the World Cup began in Qatar. On this specific day, there are 258 departing scheduled passenger flights from Doha Hamad. They're joined by a raft of services from Doha International, which temporarily reopened to airlines for the event.
Nov. 20th: 258 flights from Doha Hamad
On kick-off day, 24 passengers airlines have flights departing from Hamad, according to OAG data. They include British Airways and its A380, specifically for the World Cup, and Turkish Airlines, whose Doha services have temporarily risen from 1 daily to 6 daily.
The 24 carriers have 258 departures. The first two of the day left at 00:05: QR914 to Adelaide (777-300ER) and QR3077 to Miami (777-200LR). The last at 23:55: QR1040 to Abu Dhabi (777-300ER), the UAE capital.
Hamad services are down from 261 the previous Sunday but are up from 247 on a comparable day last month. However, they're just 88% of what was available on an equivalent day in November 2019.
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Nov. 20th: airlines with 3+ flights
With three-quarters of departures, Hamad is obviously enormously about Qatar Airways. It is a true fortress hub for the oneworld member, although, funnily enough, its dominance is lower than for the leading airline at specific US hubs.
When Qatar Airways' myriad fellow oneworld alliance members, codeshare partners, and strategic partners, such as Malaysia Airlines and British Airways, are added, they collectively have 86% of flights.
The table below shows airlines with three or more Hamad departures on the 20th. Note the 8% drop in Qatar Airways flights over the previous Sunday. During the event, it focuses away from its core business – transit passengers – to respond to the different demand environment.
|
Airline (with three or more flights) |
Doha Hamad flights (November 20th) |
Flights on the 13th (% change) |
|---|---|---|
|
Qatar Airways |
194 |
212 (-8%) |
|
IndiGo |
11 |
11 (0%) |
|
Saudia |
6 |
3 (+100%) |
|
Turkish Airlines |
6 |
1 (+500%) |
|
Air India Express |
5 |
5 (0%) |
|
Oman Air |
5 |
5 (0%) |
|
Royal Jordanian |
4 |
1 (+300%) |
|
Air India |
3 |
4 (-25%) |
|
Kuwait Airways |
3 |
1 (+200%) |
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Nov. 20th: 127 airports are served
On this day, 127 airports globally have flights from the 24 scheduled carriers. They include the newly introduced Düsseldorf, whose first Qatar Airways flight was on November 15th.
Sixty-three countries are served. With 32 flights, India has the most, followed by Saudi Arabia (25), the USA (17), the UK (13), Turkey (11), UAE (11), Germany (8), Kuwait (8), Spain (8), and Iraq (7).
Asia has more flights than anywhere else (75), and then the Middle East (72), Europe (62), Africa (21), North America (19), Australasia (6), and South America (3).
Nov. 20th: top routes from Hamad
The following table lists routes with six or more flights on the 20th. Notice Madrid, which in regular times has 2 daily services.
|
Doha Hamad to... |
Nov. 20th flights |
Airlines (flights on the 20th) |
Find flights |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Istanbul Airport |
8 |
Turkish (6), Qatar Airways (2) |
|
|
Jeddah |
8 |
Qatar Airways (4), Saudia (3), flynas (1) |
|
|
Kuwait |
8 |
Qatar Airways (5), Kuwait Airways (3) |
|
|
Riyadh |
8 |
Qatar Airways (4), Saudia (3), flynas (1) |
|
|
London Heathrow |
7 |
Qatar Airways (6), British Airways (1) |
|
|
Amman |
6 |
Royal Jordanian (4), Qatar Airways (2) |
|
|
Mumbai |
6 |
Air India (2), IndiGo (2), Air India Express (1), Qatar (1) |
|
|
Madrid |
6 |
Qatar Airways (6) |
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments.