Lufthansa has announced it will discontinue its one-stop service between Frankfurt (FRA) and Doha (DOH) at the end of October.
The daily Frankfurt–Kuwait (KWI)–Doha flight will cease on October 28. The direct Frankfurt–Kuwait segment will remain in operation.
Passengers who still need to travel between Frankfurt and Doha can choose Qatar Airways, which operates twice-daily nonstop flights between Doha and Frankfurt and also offers services to Berlin (BER) and Munich (MUC).
In recent years, Lufthansa has been critical of Gulf carriers’ rapid expansion into Europe, including routes operated by Qatar Airways.
Lufthansa provided the following statement to Business Traveller: “The Lufthansa Group is continuously evaluating and optimizing its entire route network. As a result Lufthansa German Airlines has decided to suspend its operations on the route from Kuwait to Doha (Qatar) as from October 28, 2017. The last flight from Doha via Kuwait to Frankfurt will take off on October 27, 2017 from Hamad International Airport.
“This decision was taken due to the commercial development of the route over the past few years. Lufthansa started flying the route Frankfurt to Doha in May 1993 and despite substantial sales efforts this route was found to be commercially not viable. Only one year back Lufthansa had to again connect its operation from Doha to Frankfurt via Kuwait, due to the unsatisfactory commercial development of the route over the past few years.
“All existing bookings will be re-protected and therefore will be rebooked within the coming days. Affected customers will be informed and rebooked directly. Lufthansa will exercise maximum flexibility for possible cancellations/refunds to existing bookings.”