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The Gulf carrier announced its first direct
flights to Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta from its Doha hub and
its second daily flight to New York.
The expansion comes as Delta Air Lines Inc, United Continental
Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc press for a
temporary freeze on new Gulf airline service to the United
States.
The U.S. airlines and their unions have alleged that Qatar
Airways, Emirates airline and Etihad Airways have received more
than $40 billion in subsidies from their home governments in the
last decade.
This, they say, has allowed the Gulf carriers to drive down
ticket prices and begin pushing competitors out of key markets.
The Gulf carriers have denied the allegations and said U.S.
airlines are losing market share due to poor service.
Qatar Airways said it would fly two-aisle Boeing Co 777 aircraft
to Los Angeles and Atlanta. It would fly a two-aisle Airbus
Group NV 350-900 XWB aircraft on its Boston route and for its
second New York flight.
Los Angeles service begins January 1, 2016, followed by Boston
on March 16 and Atlanta on July 1.
While the Obama administration said it would begin reviewing
interested parties' comments on the subsidy claims by the end of
May, the three U.S. airlines have charged the Gulf carriers with
taking advantage of the waiting period, with Emirates adding new
flights to Orlando, Boston and Seattle.
"These additional flights and capacity increases will exacerbate
the existing harm to U.S. airlines by diverting even more
passengers away from U.S. airlines' services to Gulf carriers'
subsidized services," the chief executives of the three U.S.
airlines said in a joint April 17 letter to the administration.
(Editing by Stephen Coates)
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