United Airlines is to pull back from Doha in Qatar, and will only operate between Washington DC and Dubai.
United Boeing 777 taxing at Heathrow – Image GhettoIFE
The route operated to Doha via Dubai as a “tag-on” fifth freedom flight, adding an extra hour flight between cities, plus the transit time – a total of 16 hours 15 minutes (comparable for connecting flights with a one stop connection). Compared with the 12 hour 30 direct flight that Qatar Airways operate, this does represent one heck of a wait to get to Doha.
The last tag-on flight will operate on 30th August, where the flight will revert to a Washington Dulles International to Dubai direct flight as UA976/UA977.
Whilst it’s a reduction in route choice with the Star Alliance carrier, the Dubai to Doha route is well trafficked, with Emirates, Qatar Airways and flyDubai offering cheap flights on these segments if you need to route via Dubai.