# Qatar Airways' winter schedule: more London, Phuket and Maldives flights, plus Zanzibar and Canberra return Qatar will serve more than 170 destinations this winter. Heathrow rises to 56 weekly flights, Zanzibar comes back on Oct. 25 and Canberra returns via Melbourne on Dec. 9. By Patrick Karsh · Lounge Frog Published: 2026-10-06T20:16:37.927433Z Updated: 2026-10-14T23:43:01.802127Z Canonical: https://www.loungefrog.com/news/qatar-airways-winter-2026-network Cite citation_url. Preserve source links, dates and qualifications. date_modified is an edit date, not proof that every claim was rechecked. Third-party images and quoted material retain their own rights. Resolve relative links against https://www.loungefrog.com/news/qatar-airways-winter-2026-network. Qatar Airways will fly to more than 170 destinations this winter, according to [its Sept. 10 announcement](https://www.qatarairways.com/press-releases/en-WW/270452-qatar-airways-expands-global-network-to-over-170-destinations-this-winter-season/). The schedule adds flights across most regions and brings back several routes. The airline says it plans nearly 1,800 weekly flights in December 2026. ![A Qatar Airways widebody aircraft](https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/79e52ed1-d223-4285-b4f1-9ec4a18bd63c/09bb8f4b4c2990536be4285f23e71450.jpg) ## Europe - **London Heathrow:** 49 to 56 weekly flights from Oct. 25, which Qatar says adds 11 percent to capacity. The airline also points to its codeshare partner [British Airways](/airlines/ba)' daily London–Doha flight. - **Frankfurt:** 18 to 21 weekly from Dec. 7, a 7 percent capacity increase. ## Africa - **Zanzibar:** back to daily from Oct. 25. - **Johannesburg:** 14 to 18 weekly from Dec. 2. - **Seychelles:** four to seven weekly, so daily, from March 1, 2027. ## Americas - **Montréal:** five to seven weekly from Oct. 25. Qatar says that is a 40 percent boost in seats, aimed at demand from the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. ## Asia Pacific - **Phuket:** 14 to 21 weekly from Oct. 25. - **Malé:** 12 to 21 weekly from Oct. 25. At 21 a week, both Phuket and Malé get three flights a day. - **Kuala Lumpur:** 18 weekly from Oct. 25, alongside oneworld partner [Malaysia Airlines](/airlines/mh)' 14 weekly Doha flights. - **Ho Chi Minh City:** seven to 11 weekly from Nov. 7. That includes the return of four weekly direct Doha–Ho Chi Minh City flights, alongside the existing Doha–Ho Chi Minh City–Phnom Penh routing, which continues. - **Melbourne:** seven to 14 weekly from Dec. 9, with Canberra resuming the same day as a daily service via Melbourne. - **[Virgin Australia](/airlines/va)**, in partnership with Qatar, adds Doha flights from December: Sydney doubles to 14 weekly (21 with Qatar's own), Brisbane restarts with three weekly (10 combined) and Perth with four (11 combined). ## Middle East Four Saudi routes come back, each twice weekly: Qassim on Oct. 25, Taif on Oct. 31, Yanbu on Jan. 2 and Tabuk on Jan. 3. Qatar says that takes its Saudi network to 12 destinations and more than 155 weekly flights, up more than 10 percent on summer. ## My take for lounge time More frequencies mean more connections through Doha. Business passengers there use the [Al Mourjan Business Lounge (South)](/lounges/doh-al-mourjan-business-lounge-south) and [The Garden](/lounges/doh-al-mourjan-business-lounge-the-garden). Our directory lists 20 showers at the South lounge and 30 at The Garden, both open around the clock, and rates each 4.6 out of 5. Qatar's [2023 announcement of The Garden](https://www.qatarairways.com/press-releases/en-WW/225226-qatar-airways-welcomes-passengers-to-the-new-al-mourjan-business-lounge-the-garden/) put it at 7,390 square meters with room for 707 passengers, with 24 quiet rooms, seven spa treatment rooms, a gym and à la carte dining. ![Al Mourjan Business Lounge – The Garden, Hamad International Airport, Doha](https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/79e52ed1-d223-4285-b4f1-9ec4a18bd63c/6b78c2a5f12f427b9cbb710051d7f81b.jpg) Both lounges are airside in the main terminal. Our directions for the South lounge put it in Concourse A near the Lamp Bear, up the escalator past the Harrods Tea Room, which is worth knowing if you arrive from a regional flight on a tight connection. Who gets in, per our listings: Qatar Airways and oneworld business and first passengers, including codeshare and Privilege Club award tickets, but not Business Lite fares. oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members flying Qatar also qualify. Business Lite and economy passengers can buy access. Status holders flying economy are sent to the Platinum and Gold lounges instead. Qatar does not publish a guest allowance. The [Al Mourjan program page](/programs/qatar-al-mourjan) and our [Privilege Club page](/programs/qatar-privilege-club), which lists the Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers, have the details. The Saudi resumptions and the Ho Chi Minh City nonstops are the ones most likely to be flown by the airline's narrowbodies and smaller widebodies, so don't assume every new flight carries the Qsuite business seat. Qatar hasn't published aircraft by route in this release. For Heathrow passengers, the BA codeshare matters for lounges too. If you have oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status, that opens BA's [Galleries lounges](/programs/ba-galleries-lounge) at [Heathrow](/airports/lhr) on a BA-operated flight, per our listings; on a Qatar-operated flight, check the Qatar lounge arrangement in Terminal 4. ## Starlink and the hub Qatar uses the release to restate its Wi-Fi push: up to 340 Starlink-equipped flights a day on more than 150 widebody aircraft, with Privilege Club membership as the key to using it on board. The airline's hub, Hamad International, is listed in [our Doha page](/airports/doh) with a 4.6 rating, among the highest in our directory. The release also restates the airline's awards: Skytrax's World's Best Business Class for the 13th time, World's Best Business Class Airline Lounge for the eighth time, and a Cirium Platinum reliability recognition for 2025. Hamad International, it adds, has been Skytrax's Best Airport in the Middle East for 11 straight years. Those are Qatar's claims, but they line up with what our users report about the Doha lounges. Corporate travelers connecting beyond Doha will soon have another lounge option. Qatar's Beyond Business program has signed an agreement to let companies spend Qrewards on [Priority Pass](/programs/priority-pass) lounges, which we covered in [a separate story](/news/qatar-airways-beyond-business-priority-pass). Bookings for all the winter flights are open on qatarairways.com and the airline's app. See [all Qatar Airways lounges](/airlines/qr). ## Related reading - [The 5 best Qatar Airways lounges, ranked: 2026](/news/qatar-airways-lounges-ranked-2026) - [Qatar Airways' first US lounge slips to 2027 with JFK's New Terminal One. Where Qatar flyers go until then](/news/qatar-airways-jfk-terminal-one-lounge-delayed-2027) - [Qatar Airways now has free Starlink Wi-Fi on 150 widebody jets](/news/qatar-airways-free-starlink-wifi-150-jets-787-9)