Qatar Airways to start Perth-Doha flights (& connections) in July

Qatar Airways will begin direct thrice-weekly flights between Doha and Perth from 3 July — meaning extra connection options for business travellers heading between WA, Europe, the Middle East and Africa via Qatar's hub in Doha.

From Doha, Qatar has over a hundred destinations worldwide, with particularly notable coverage in the Middle East, Germany (Frankurt, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart), the UK (Manchester, London) and Scandinavia (Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm).

Perth will be Qatar Airways's second Australian flight, adding to its existing Melbourne route, which started in early 2009.

Qatar Airways will also add nonstop connections from Doha to Baku (Azerbaijan), Tblisi (Georgia), Helsinki (Finland), Zagreb (Croatia), Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Kigali (Rwanda) and Mombasa (Kenya) — and many of these routes suggest a concentration on business travellers in the resources sector.

Business class on Qatar's longhaul Boeing 777 planes (the majority of its long-distance fleet) is a top-notch fully-flat bed with all the latest mod cons you'd expect from a Gulf airline with a healthy bank balance for outfitting its aircraft.

42 business class seats sit at the pointy end of the plane, with 217 seats in economy down the back.

As the smallest of the "big three" Gulf State carriers in terms of its Australian network-- the others are Emirates and Virgin Australia's partner Etihad -- Qatar is playing catchup with its regional rivals.

Since it has the fewest flights to Australian cities and isn't affiliated with an Australian airline or a global airline alliance like SkyTeam, oneworld or Star Alliance, Qatar's frequent flyer program Privilege Club isn't a great deal for Australian travellers.

However, if you happen to have miles or points tucked away in programs from ANA, Asiana, Kingfisher, Middle East Airlines, United or US Airways, you'll be able to earn miles in those frequent flyer schemes on Qatar's Perth flights.

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.