Qatar Airways 77L (A7-BBD) at Boeing Field by Andrew W. Sieber
Effective May 30th, 2010 Qatar Airways will begin service to South America offering a daily Doha – São Paulo – Buenos Aires service to be operated with a 77L. They will become only the third airline ever to offer non-stop service to six continents from a single hub. The current members of the Six Continent Club are South African Airways and Emirates who serve six continents from their Johannesburg and Dubai hubs respectively.
Qatar Airways is often accused of aping Emirates. In this instance I think they have one-upped them. Unlike their Gulf cousins QR’s service will continue on to EZE from GRU with full 5th freedom traffic rights. A smart move considering it tests the market for EZE-DOH direct (which the ridiculously capable 77L can handle) and maximizes utilization of the 77L fleet. Indications are that EK did not pursue the GRU-EZE leg as it would have meant a less desirable departure time. This type of paired expansion is not new to QR. When getting their feet wet in Africa they took a similar approach initially serving Cape Town via Johannesburg. After establishing themselves in those markets and proving demand existed both cities were upgraded. A certain Emirati carrier followed suit
This all begs the question, who will be the next member of this elite club? A number of other airlines already serve six continents but from different hubs and with stops. Off the top of my head British Airways, United, Malaysia Airlines and Air France are in the mix but for reasons of equipment, bilateral agreements and other complications I don’t believe any of these four will be the next. My pick is Etihad. The reasons are simple. They have a similar business model to EK and QR, they have capable aircraft on order and they have a strong desire to not be an also-ran in the arena of Gulf aviation. Time will tell.
