Qatar Airways touched down in Odesa International Airport in Ukraine on Thursday 9th December, inaugurating its second route to Ukraine from its hub in Doha.

Qatar now flies to Odesa

On Thursday 9th December, Qatar Airways' flight QR309 touched down in Odesa, Ukraine's port city that is not served by any other ME3 (Middle East three) carrier.

The flight was an inaugural service of the Doha-Odesa-Doha rotation operated by an Airbus A320 aircraft. The flights run as follows:

  • Flight QR309 from Doha (DOH) to Odesa (ODS) departs at 08:30 and arrives at 12:45
  • Flight QR310 from Odesa (ODS) to Doha (DOH) departs at 16:45 arrives and arrives at 22:50

Odesa as a destination is a perfect fit for Qatar's fleet of A320 aircraft. The A320s provide Qatar Airways with a competitive edge because their capacity allows the Doha-based airline to operate high-frequency services to large cities across the world that cannot sustain the capacity offered by larger aircraft on a year-round basis.

Qatar's A320s flying on this route feature 12 seats in Business Class and 120 seats in Economy Class. As well as enjoying the award-winning in-flight service on board, passengers traveling to Odesa will also have access to Oryx One, Qatar Airways’ in-flight entertainment system, offering the latest blockbuster movies, TV box sets, music, games, and much more.

Qatar A320
Photo: Getty Images

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Qatar and Odesa are both very happy

Commenting on the launch, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said:

“The start of service to Odesa marks the growing relationship between the State of Qatar and Ukraine. Odesa is popular for both business and leisure, and in particular, we expect the route to serve seafarers and offshore workers around the world, who will be able to enjoy our industry-first, dedicated ‘Mariner Lounge’ at the airline’s home airport Hamad International Airport (HIA)."

Director General of Odesa International Airport, Mr. Volodymyr Semenchenko, said:

“2021 has been an exciting year for Odesa International Airport ending with more exciting news; the start of a cooperation with Qatar Airways, the World’s Best Airline according to the World Airline Awards 2021 rating by Skytrax. The new Doha-Odesa route opens up new horizons worldwide for our passengers."

Qatar Airways
The carrier has introduced an enticing menu on its North American flights. Photo: Getty Images

An important route for Odesa

Commenting on the importance of the route, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said:

“This important new gateway will provide enhanced connectivity to both business and leisure travelers, and will help connect passengers from Odesa to our extensive global network of more than 140 destinations worldwide.”

Meanwhile, Director General of Odesa International Airport, Mr. Volodymyr Semenchenko, said:

"We are happy to welcome Qatar Airways to Odesa and are confident that it will be a long term and mutually beneficial cooperation.”

Ukraine has seen a flurry of new route launches recently after the country signed an open skies agreement with the European Union last week.

Not even one day after the agreement was signed, Wizz Air reacted with a major expansion of its operations in Ukraine as it announced it would base an additional seven aircraft in the country by summer 2022 and that it would launch an incredible 26 new routes from four Ukrainian cities, including Odesa.

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