Qatar Airways Adds Nearly 3,000 Winter Flights, Expands Services to Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Shanghai and Singapore

28 November 2025

Qatar Airways is entering the Winter 2025–26 season with one of its biggest network boosts in recent years, adding nearly 3,000 additional flights and significantly increasing capacity to key markets in Asia and Africa. The airline is ramping up services to Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Shanghai and Singapore, while also rolling out a broader expansion across Asia that now includes new and growing routes such as Hail, Tashkent, Osaka and Denpasar (Bali). ^[1]

Today’s new analysis from Travel And Tour World, published on 28 November 2025, pulls together the broader Asia strategy behind these capacity increases, underlining how Qatar Airways is positioning itself to capture rising demand across the region in 2025 and 2026. ^[2]

Nearly 3,000 extra flights for Winter 2025–26

Qatar Airways first confirmed the winter uplift in a 23 November press release, stating it will operate “nearly 3,000 additional flights” across its network this year, centred on four major gateways: Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Lagos (LOS), Shanghai (PVG) and Singapore (SIN). ^[3]

Industry outlets including Aviation A2Z, Aviation24, AeroTime, Travel Weekly and Travel Monitor have since echoed the scale of the expansion, emphasising that the extra flights sit within a wider winter schedule upgrade affecting more than 15 destinations worldwide, from Cape Town and Dublin to London, Phuket and Toronto. ^[4]

Crucially, the airline is not just adding seats—it is re‑balancing capacity at its Doha hub to increase connectivity during the busy December to March peak, strengthening its role as a transfer point between Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. ^[5]

Key increases: Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Shanghai and Singapore

Kuala Lumpur: More options between Southeast Asia and Europe/Middle East

From 17 December 2025, Qatar Airways will increase Doha–Kuala Lumpur services from 14 to 17 flights per week, giving Malaysia three extra weekly departures for the winter peak. ^[6]

The airline and multiple trade publications note that the additional frequencies are timed to improve same‑day connections via Doha to key long‑haul markets such as Jeddah, London and Paris, making itineraries smoother and reducing layover times for both leisure and business travellers. ^[7]

Today’s Travel And Tour World feature goes further, calling the Kuala Lumpur uplift a “game‑changer” for Malaysia’s travel industry and linking it to a broader wave of frequency increases across Southeast Asia. ^[8]

Lagos: Bigger bridge between West Africa and the global network

On the Doha–Lagos route, Qatar Airways will grow capacity from 10 to 14 weekly flights between 15 December 2025 and 28 March 2026. ^[9]

The added four frequencies substantially increase connectivity for Nigeria, improving links to more than 170 destinations in the Qatar Airways network, with particular emphasis on flows to Delhi, Guangzhou and London. ^[10]

For West African travellers, this means:

More departure time choices ex‑Lagos
Better one‑stop access to Asia and Europe via Doha
Increased seat availability during the Christmas and Easter holiday periods

AeroTime points out that the Lagos increase is one of the clearest signs of rising premium and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) demand between West Africa and the wider world heading into 2026. ^[11]

Shanghai: Extra capacity into China’s economic powerhouse

Demand into and out of mainland China continues to rebound. To capture this, Qatar Airways will raise Doha–Shanghai (PVG) frequencies from 7 to 10 flights per week between 1 January and 28 March 2026. ^[12]

The additional services are aimed at strengthening connectivity between China and markets such as Algiers, São Paulo and Warsaw, where Qatar Airways has been building traffic flows for several years. ^[13]

For business travellers in particular, the move reduces gaps between flight banks through Doha, making it easier to complete trips with minimal overnight layovers.

Singapore: A380 returns on select flights

Rather than simply adding more frequencies, Qatar Airways is also up‑gauging capacity. From 12 January 2026, the carrier will deploy its Airbus A380 on selected Doha–Singapore rotations, bringing additional seats—especially in premium cabins—to one of its busiest Asian city pairs. ^[14]

This shift aligns with strong corporate and premium leisure demand into Singapore and allows the airline to showcase its flagship multi‑class product on a marquee regional route.

Asia and Africa at the heart of Qatar Airways’ 2025–26 strategy

While the four headline routes have grabbed attention, they are part of a much broader recalibration of Qatar Airways’ network towards high‑growth markets in Asia and Africa.

Beyond four routes: over 15 destinations see winter increases

Qatar Airways and multiple industry outlets report that, alongside Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Shanghai and Singapore, the airline has already added extra flights to more than 15 other cities, including: ^[15]

Cape Town – to capture Southern Hemisphere summer demand
Dublin – matching strong winter city‑break and VFR markets
London – supporting peak holiday and business travel flows
Phuket – riding continued interest in Thailand’s beach destinations
Toronto – bolstering long‑haul links between North America, Africa and Asia

Travel And Tour World’s 26 November feature frames the winter uplift as part of a coordinated effort to support tourism recovery, noting that the extra capacity should help destinations attract more visitors during their key festive and summer periods. ^[16]

New routes and stronger presence across Asia

Today’s 28 November article from Travel And Tour World makes clear that Qatar Airways’ winter moves are just one chapter in a much bigger Asia growth story for 2025 and 2026. ^[17]

Key developments highlighted include:

Kuala Lumpur uplift in context
The KUL increase from 14 to 17 weekly flights is presented as part of a broader strategy to dominate Southeast Asia’s long‑haul market, offering Malaysians and regional travellers shorter connections via Doha to Europe and the Middle East. ^[18]
Saudi Arabia: New Hail route and Red Sea connectivity
From 5 January 2026, Qatar Airways plans to launch three weekly flights to Hail, its 13th destination in Saudi Arabia, following earlier network expansion in the Kingdom. The airline has also added three weekly services to Red Sea International Airport (RSI) since October 2025 and continues to serve AlUla, a UNESCO World Heritage site, strengthening links to Saudi Arabia’s fast‑growing tourism regions. ^[19]
Central Asia: Tashkent joins the network
Since mid‑2024, Qatar Airways has been operating four weekly flights to Tashkent, opening Central Asia more directly to Europe, Africa and the Americas via Doha. Today’s coverage underlines the role of Tashkent as a budding hub along a “modern Silk Road”. ^[20]
Japan: Osaka and Tokyo Haneda restored
The carrier has fully restored services to Osaka (daily from March 2024) and reinstated daily non‑stop flights to Tokyo Haneda, reinforcing its commitment to Japan’s recovering outbound market. ^[21]
Southeast Asia expansions: Bali, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Manila
Frequencies have risen on several key Southeast Asian routes, including Denpasar (Bali)—reported as moving from 14 to 21 weekly flights—along with increases to Hanoi, Hong Kong and Manila to meet surging demand. ^[22]
Partnerships and future destinations
Qatar Airways is also leveraging partnerships, including a 2025 codeshare with Philippine Airlines on the Manila–Doha route, plus deeper cooperation with Garuda Indonesia via new services to Medan and Jakarta. Looking ahead, the airline has flagged seven additional destinations—Chittagong, Juba, Kinshasa, Lyon, Medan, Toulouse and Trabzon—as part of its medium‑term network growth pipeline. ^[23]

Taken together, these developments show how the winter capacity increase to Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Shanghai and Singapore slots into a much wider pivot to high‑growth Asian and African markets.

Doha’s Hamad International Airport: the hub powering the expansion

All of these extra flights feed into Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha, which Qatar Airways promotes as a central pillar of its strategy. The airline’s press material and subsequent coverage highlight HIA’s repeated recognition as the “Best Airport in the Middle East” and its strong showing in global rankings. ^[24]

More flight banks through Doha bring:

Shorter layovers and more same‑day connection opportunities
Easier multi‑city itineraries (for example, Lagos–Doha–Shanghai or Kuala Lumpur–Doha–Cape Town)
Greater resilience when flights are disrupted, thanks to extra capacity and alternative connection options

Travel And Tour World notes that the increased winter frequencies should further strengthen Doha’s status as a global super‑hub, especially for long‑haul flows between Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. ^[25]

Onboard: more widebodies, more Starlink Wi‑Fi

The winter uplift is being enabled by Qatar Airways’ widebody fleet of Boeing 777s and Airbus A350s, many of which now feature Starlink ultra‑high‑speed Wi‑Fi. ^[26]

According to the airline and Qatar News Agency, Qatar Airways has: ^[27]

Equipped over 100 widebody aircraft with Starlink
Become the first airline globally to operate more than 100 Starlink‑enabled widebodies
Rolled out free gate‑to‑gate Wi‑Fi (subject to local airport regulations) for both Premium and Economy passengers, with advertised speeds of up to 500 Mbps per aircraft

For passengers on the expanded winter services—particularly long sectors like Doha–Kuala Lumpur or Doha–Shanghai—that means genuinely fast connectivity for work, streaming and messaging throughout the flight.

What this means for travellers and the travel trade

For travellers, the implications are straightforward but significant:

More seats and more choice on popular winter routes, making it easier to secure preferred dates and times
Better connection windows via Doha, reducing overnight stays and long layovers
Improved premium capacity on Singapore and other high‑yield routes thanks to the Airbus A380 deployment
Greater network flexibility, particularly for multi‑stop trips combining Africa, Asia and Europe

For the travel trade—from tour operators and OTAs to corporate travel managers—the nearly 3,000 extra flights create new packaging and pricing opportunities during a period when many long‑haul markets traditionally sell out. Trade‑facing coverage from outlets like Travel Weekly, Travel Monitor and Aviation.Direct stresses that agents will have more options to reroute passengers when flights are disrupted and more inventory to play with for series and group bookings. ^[28]

Key dates and routes at a glance

Based on the latest information available as of 28 November 2025, the main Qatar Airways winter 2025–26 changes are:

Doha – Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
– 14 → 17 weekly flights from 17 December 2025 ^[29]
Doha – Lagos (LOS)
– 10 → 14 weekly flights from 15 December 2025 to 28 March 2026 ^[30]
Doha – Shanghai (PVG)
– 7 → 10 weekly flights from 1 January to 28 March 2026 ^[31]
Doha – Singapore (SIN)
– Airbus A380 on selected flights from 12 January 2026 ^[32]
Doha – Hail (HAS), Saudi Arabia
– New route, 3 weekly flights from 5 January 2026, further details confirmed in recent network announcements and summarised in today’s Travel And Tour World feature ^[33]
Additional winter frequencies
– Extra flights across more than 15 destinations, including Cape Town, Dublin, London, Phuket and Toronto, with exact day‑of‑week patterns varying by route ^[34]

As always, schedules remain subject to operational changes, and travellers are advised to check the latest timings directly with Qatar Airways or via their booking channel before travel.