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Qatar Airways On the Ascent

Any who care will already probably know that Qatar Airways is slated to increase its Durban arrivals frequency from the current five to seven starting June 3, 2025. This will place this carrier on a par with Emirates at King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) in this regard for its first time.
Qatar Airways will thereby become the third Foreign-Based Scheduled Passenger Operator (FBSPO) to achieve this milestone after Air Namibia sustainably achieved it during the lead up to the onset of COVID-19.
Emirates has averaged a once-a-day schedule since the very first week of the airport's opening in May 2010, except during the COVID period and is unique in having even exceeded this frequency during select pre-COVID times. Yes, even with this latest apparent equalisation, Emirates still has a one-up over all the competition!
But let this not take away from the slow, but steady progress that Qatar Airways has managed to carve out of its Durban niche since first flying there in late 2015.
Then, its initial arrivals frequency was four weekly, remaining steady until the first move to five weekly at the start of April 2024.
Not unlike Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways continues to operate the Airbus A350-941 as its primary aircraft equipment on the Durban route.
Assuming no flight cancellations for any reason, at April 30, 2025 Qatar Airways' A350s will have completed a combined total of 610 actual arrivals to Durban over six clearly identifiable service periods, the latest A350 stint of which had commenced on October 27, 2024.
Not only will 2025 record the highest ever annual arrivals for Qatar Airways to date at KSIA and thereby handsomely beat its all time record of 246 actual arrivals achieved in 2024, but it will significantly boost total annual arrivals figures for the airport itself and help compensate for the loss of arrivals when the regional carrier Proflight Zambia terminated its services permanently to Durban on January 3, 2025.
If all goes as planned, with seven arrivals weekly from the start of 2026, this year will be another record year for the intercontinental airline at Durban and the fourth year in succession that Qatar Airways will have bettered its all-time actual annual arrivals totals at King Shaka!
Qatar Airways is on the up.

ENDS