British Airways and Qatar Airways plan to further extend their joint business to offer customers a greater choice of destinations and routing options.
The airlines expect to receive news of any relevant regulatory approvals of their expanded joint business proposition in the first half of 2022.
The news follows BA’s relaunch of daily services to Doha, with the airline’s first flight taking off from Gatwick last week.
The service gives passengers access to Qatar Airways’ global network, with connections from Doha to more than 100 destinations.
This winter, the airlines will jointly operate up to six daily flights between London and Doha – five from London Heathrow and one from London Gatwick.
The proposed expansion will give customers enhanced access from Europe to popular destinations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australasia, such as Singapore, Sydney, Colombo and Nairobi.
It will also improve access to destinations across Europe such as Amsterdam, Madrid or Dublin.
Sean Doyle, BA chairman and chief executive, said: “The launch of our first flight from Gatwick to Doha was an important milestone in our existing joint business with Qatar Airways.
“The proposed expansion of the joint business will be great news for customers, offering them access to more destinations across the world with seamless connections.
“We know customers are always looking for more options to connect onto popular holiday hotspots such as the Maldives and Seychelles, and this expansion will allow them to do just that.”
Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways group chief executive, added: “Expanding our joint business with our strategic airline partner, British Airways, is an important milestone in our ambition of providing customers access to the most extensive route network and unrivalled product.”
BA said its current partnership with Qatar Airways means“great prices across both our airlines, mixing and matching more flight choices to suit your schedule and get the best deals”.
It also enables smoother connections for onward flights thanks to coordinated schedules and its oneworld Global Support centre at Heathrow, plus integrated customer support available online, through call centres and at the airport.