Qatar Airways begins direct flights to Lyon from Doha

Earlier this week, Qatar Airways landed its inaugural direct flight to the French city of Lyon from Doha.

The four times weekly service will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

QR51 departs from Hamad International airport (DOH) at 8.25am and lands at St-Exupéry Airport (LYS) at 2.10pm.

QR52 will meanwhile depart from Lyon at 3.20pm and land back in Doha by 11.40pm the same day.

Lyon is Qatar Airways’ third destination in France, with the other two being Paris and Nice.

The new direct service to Lyon will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 which features 22 business class seats and 232 economy seats.

Qatar Airways group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said, “I am delighted to announce the launch of Qatar Airways’ inaugural flight to the renowned French city of Lyon. Qatar and France mutually benefit from a longstanding strategic partnership in various fields, including diplomacy, trade, and tourism.”

Chairman of the Management Board of Aéroports de Lyon, Tanguy Bertolus, added, “This new international destination from Lyon illustrates VINCI Airports’ know-how in the development of new routes, and demonstrates the quality of its relations with various airlines. This connection between the capital of Qatar and Lyon will further strengthen the appeal of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, as well as the Lyon metropolitan area by offering more options to and from the Middle East and Asia, particularly in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.”

In March, the airline announced a massive planned expansion in its destination network this year. At the time it said that it would add seven new destinations to its network, including Lyon. The other six new destinations were confirmed to be Chittagong, Juba, Kinshasa, Medan, Toulouse, and Trabzon. Furthermore, the airline also said that it would resume services to 11 destinations worldwide including Beijing, Birmingham, Buenos Aires, Casablanca, Davao, Marrakesh, Nice, Osaka, Phnom Penh, Ras Al Khaimah, and Tokyo Haneda. The Doha-based carrier even announced an expansive 35 frequency increases for this year.

This article originally appeared on Business Traveller Middle East