Qatar Airways is to pull its services from Gatwick Airport from the end of May.
The Doha-based airline said the decision to dump the route was made “for commercial reasons”.
The move will frustrate travellers who used the service to Doha en route to Australia. These flights were often cheaper than those heading Down Under from Heathrow.
However, not enough premium-class travellers were using the route to make it sustainable.
Qatar Airways follows Etihad and Oman Air, both of which have pulled out of London’s second airport. Emirates is now the only big airline player offering long-haul to the Middle East from Gatwick.
Qatar Airways’ chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said: “We are extremely sad to be losing London Gatwick from our network after serving the route for the past seven years.”
by Dinah Hatch
