Qatar Airways is deepening its global footprint for the 2025/2026 winter season, unveiling a wave of new and enhanced routes that tighten connections between the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia. Among the most notable developments is the launch of flights to Hail in Saudi Arabia, which now joins major global gateways such as Shanghai Pudong, Lagos and London Heathrow in a significantly reinforced network. For international travellers, the changes translate into more frequencies, more capacity and smoother one-stop links through Doha, a hub that is increasingly positioned as one of the world’s most important crossroads.
Hail: A New Gateway in Saudi Arabia’s Heartland
Hail has emerged as the newest destination in the Qatar Airways map, underscoring the carrier’s confidence in Saudi Arabia’s fast-evolving tourism and business landscape. Effective 5 January 2026, the airline inaugurated three weekly flights between Doha and Hail, adding the historic northern city as the thirteenth point it serves in the Kingdom. The move aligns closely with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 ambitions, which place strong emphasis on regional airports, heritage tourism and domestic connectivity.
For travellers, Hail’s inclusion provides easier access to a region rich in archaeology, desert scenery and traditional culture. Previously, reaching Hail from international origins often required multiple domestic segments or lengthy surface travel. By stitching Hail directly into the Qatar Airways network, the carrier allows passengers from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas to arrive with a single connection in Doha, cutting journey times and simplifying itineraries.
The route also strengthens intra-Gulf and Saudi regional traffic, offering new options for residents in Hail who travel for education, medical treatment or business. Qatar Airways’ entry on the corridor is expected to complement the services of Saudi carriers rather than supplant them, adding capacity at a time when demand across the Kingdom’s secondary cities is on a sharp upward trajectory.
Shanghai Pudong: Extra Frequencies into China’s Financial Powerhouse
At the other end of the network, Qatar Airways is reinforcing its presence in Greater China, focusing on the high-yield Shanghai Pudong market. From 1 January to 28 March 2026, services between Doha and Shanghai increase from seven to ten weekly flights, providing additional flexibility for corporate travellers, traders and long-haul leisure passengers. The adjustment is a clear response to revived demand after several years of constrained capacity on China routes.
Extra rotations to Shanghai mean more connection options at Hamad International Airport for travellers heading to and from key onward destinations such as Algiers, São Paulo and Warsaw. Early-morning and late-evening connection banks in Doha are particularly important for business traffic, allowing same-day or overnight links that minimise layover times while still respecting rest requirements on these long sectors.
The capacity boost also supports growing two-way tourism between China and the Gulf. As Chinese travellers look increasingly to the Middle East for premium shopping, stopover experiences and winter-sun escapes, airlines are recalibrating schedules to capture this flow. Qatar Airways’ move on the Shanghai route positions it strongly against regional competitors, especially on itineraries combining China with Europe or Africa on a single ticket.
Lagos: Double Daily Service to West Africa’s Commercial Capital
West Africa features prominently in Qatar Airways’ latest network strategy, with Lagos in Nigeria receiving a substantial upgrade. From 15 December 2025 through 28 March 2026, the airline expands its Doha–Lagos operation from ten to fourteen weekly flights, effectively moving to a double daily schedule on one of its most important African routes. This aligns with broader trends showing sustained growth in business and leisure traffic to and from Nigeria, despite macroeconomic headwinds.
The additional frequencies strengthen Lagos as a gateway for West and Central Africa, giving Nigerian travellers greater access to destinations such as Delhi, Guangzhou and London via Doha. For the country’s extensive diaspora, the increased options are particularly welcome during peak seasons around year-end holidays and major cultural events, when seats to and from Nigeria are historically scarce.
On the inbound side, the upgrade is poised to support tourism boards and investors seeking to attract more visitors and capital into Nigeria. International firms with operations in Lagos gain from the flexibility of two daily departure windows to Doha, enabling tighter scheduling of meetings around Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The improved timetable also enhances connectivity to other African cities in the carrier’s portfolio, further integrating the subregion into global trade and travel flows.
London Heathrow: Intensifying a Key Transcontinental Corridor
London remains one of Qatar Airways’ flagship destinations, and the airline is reinforcing that status through additional capacity and high-frequency operations into Heathrow. Building on schedule enhancements that took effect on 27 October 2024, the carrier now operates up to 56 weekly flights between Doha and London Heathrow, supplied with widebody aircraft tailored to both premium and high-density economy demand on this vital trunk route.
With support from its joint business partner, British Airways, which operates two daily services on the same city pair, travellers now have access to up to ten daily flights between Doha and Heathrow. This level of service is approaching shuttle-style connectivity, particularly attractive to corporate clients, government delegations and high-spending leisure customers who require multiple same-day options in both directions.
The robust London schedule also feeds the broader Qatar Airways network at both ends. Through Doha, travellers from the UK gain seamless links to destinations across the Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, East Asia and Africa. At the same time, passengers originating in markets such as Australia, India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia can opt for convenient one-stop itineraries to London rather than relying solely on non-stop options from competing carriers.
Singapore and Kuala Lumpur: Southeast Asia Connectivity Scales Up
Qatar Airways’ winter schedule also reflects a strong commitment to Southeast Asia, where demand has rebounded rapidly across both leisure and business segments. Kuala Lumpur sees its weekly Doha services increase from 14 to 17 from 17 December 2025, adding new flight timings that optimise connections to and from Europe and the Middle East. For travellers combining Malaysia with cities such as Jeddah, London and Paris, these additional rotations provide more choice and better through-journey times.
In Singapore, the airline is enhancing the quality as well as the quantity of its offering. From 12 January 2026, Qatar Airways introduces the Airbus A380 on selected flights to Changi Airport, a decision that significantly enlarges premium cabin capacity and improves the overall onboard experience. The double-deck aircraft’s spacious First and Business Class cabins are especially appealing on the Doha–Singapore sector, where a large share of passengers are frequent flyers or high-value corporate travellers.
For holidaymakers, the combination of additional frequencies and the flagship aircraft opens more possibilities for complex itineraries that link Singapore and Malaysia with Europe, Africa or the Americas via Doha. Families and groups benefit from increased seat availability during peak periods, while mileage collectors gain more opportunities to redeem or earn points on an aspirational long-haul product.
Network Synergies: Nearly 3,000 Additional Winter Flights
The introduction of Hail and the expansion of services to Shanghai Pudong, Lagos, London, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are part of a much larger network strategy. For the 2025/2026 winter season, Qatar Airways has scheduled nearly 3,000 additional flights across more than fifteen major destinations. This represents one of the airline’s most ambitious seasonal expansions since global travel resumed at scale, and it underscores both confidence in demand and an intention to capture market share in key corridors.
The added services benefit from the carrier’s hub-and-spoke model centred on Hamad International Airport in Doha, itself repeatedly recognised among the world’s top airports. By increasing frequencies rather than only launching entirely new destinations, Qatar Airways is able to densify its global grid, offering shorter connection times, more directional choices and resilient backup options if disruptions occur on individual flights.
From an operational perspective, the strategy makes efficient use of fleet and crew, allowing the airline to deploy widebody aircraft across time zones in a pattern that keeps utilisation high while responding to the specific seasonality of each market. Whether moving workers between Africa and the Gulf, students between Asia and Europe, or tourists between North America and the Indian Ocean, the expanded schedule is designed to match capacity with real-world travel patterns.
What Travellers Can Expect This Winter Season
For passengers planning trips between late 2025 and early 2026, the practical implications of these changes are significant. More flights to Lagos and Shanghai reduce pressure on seats during high-demand windows, making last-minute travel more feasible and reducing the need to accept suboptimal routings. The new Hail service offers a direct gateway into northern Saudi Arabia for heritage tourism, desert adventures and family visits, without requiring complex domestic connections.
At the same time, the intensification of London Heathrow operations and the deployment of the A380 to Singapore bring a notable uplift in the premium experience available on some of the airline’s most competitive routes. Frequent flyers can expect increased award-seat availability, a wider choice of departure times and smoother connections to a broader range of final destinations. For economy travellers, higher frequency often translates into more competitive pricing and the possibility of itineraries that better align with hotel check-in times or business schedules.
As always in long-haul aviation, schedules remain subject to operational adjustments, regulatory changes and evolving market conditions. Travellers are therefore advised to verify specific flight timings and frequencies close to their departure dates through official channels or their chosen booking platforms. Nevertheless, the headline trend is clear: Qatar Airways is entering the 2025/2026 winter season with a decisive bet on growth.
Outlook: Strategic Expansion in a Competitive Sky
The decision to launch Hail and reinforce major nodes such as Shanghai Pudong, Lagos and London Heathrow reflects the complex calculus facing full-service carriers in a post-recovery market. With competition from regional rivals and emerging low-cost long-haul models, Qatar Airways is prioritising comprehensive connectivity and premium service as its key differentiators. By placing more aircraft on high-potential routes and binding secondary cities more tightly into its network, the airline aims to remain a first-choice connector between continents.
Looking ahead, these moves are likely to stimulate further tourism development, business flows and cultural exchange along the routes in question. Northern Saudi Arabia could see rising international visitor numbers thanks to the Hail connection, while Nigerian, Chinese, Malaysian and Singaporean travellers gain new avenues to explore destinations across Europe, the Middle East and the Americas with a single transfer in Doha. In London, the densified schedule cements Heathrow as a pivotal European entry point for passengers travelling on Qatar Airways’ global network.
For the global traveller weighing options for winter 2025/2026, the message is straightforward: more routes, more flights and enhanced onboard products are converging to make Doha an increasingly compelling hub. Whether the journey begins in Hail’s desert landscapes, Shanghai’s vertical skyline, Lagos’ bustling waterfront or London’s historic terminals, Qatar Airways’ expanded schedule offers new ways to cross borders, shorten journeys and broaden horizons in the season ahead.