Route Analysis: Doha-Multan

Qatar Airways is resuming fights to Multan International (MUX) in Pakistan from Feb. 22, increasing its network to six destinations in the South Asian country.

The airline halted service to the city in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic and operations from Doha have remained suspended ever since.

However, the oneworld alliance member will return to Multan with three flights per week later this month, increasing to 4X-weekly from March 27. The route will be served using Airbus A320s.

Following the restart, Qatar Airways will operate 66 weekly flights to six airports in Pakistan. The flag-carrier flies nonstop to Islamabad (ISB), Karachi (KHI), Lahore (LHE), Peshawar (PEW) and Sialkot (SKT).

Flight QR616 will depart from Doha’s Hamad International (DOH) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 8.45 p.m., arriving in Multan at 2 a.m. the following day. The return service leaves on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 3.25 a.m. and arrives in Doha at 5.15 a.m.

According to data provides by OAG Schedules Analyser for the week commencing Feb. 7, 2022, Qatar Airways offers 63 weekly flights to destinations in Pakistan, providing almost 36,500 two-way seats. This compares with 63 flights and 32,000 seats during the same week in 2019.

Analysis of Sabre Market Intelligence figures for 2019 shows that 79.9% of passengers flying from Multan to Doha traveled beyond Qatar’s capital to reach their final destination. Local traffic totaled 20% and behind traffic was 0.1%.

Multan is currently linked nonstop to seven destinations in the Middle East, including connections to Dubai International (DXB) on board Airblue, flydubai and Pakistan International Airlines.

DOH-MUX