Qatar Airways has confirmed a sweeping expansion of its African network, with new routes, restored services and significant frequency boosts rolling out from 16 June 2026. The Doha-based carrier will reinstate flights to Seychelles four times weekly and Kigali twice weekly beginning that date, while a daily Marrakesh service launches 1 July and a new three-weekly Port Sudan link begins 2 July.
The expansion adds a second North African gateway alongside Cairo, with the new daily Marrakesh service positioning the airline to capture rising leisure demand from the Gulf, Asia and the Americas. The Port Sudan route, operating from Doha on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, marks the airline's deepest commitment yet to Sudan as the country rebuilds its civil aviation amid ongoing instability.
Several existing routes will also see major frequency increases. Daily services replace less frequent operations on Alexandria, Dar es Salaam, the Lusaka-Harare segment and the Maputo-Durban segment. Cape Town climbs from seven to ten weekly flights, while Cairo jumps from 28 to 35 weekly rotations — effectively a fifth daily frequency on what is already one of the busiest Middle East-Africa corridors.
The expansion comes only days after Qatar Airways reported a record $1.94 billion full-year profit and confirmed a 210-aircraft Boeing widebody order valued at more than $60 billion. The carrier has positioned itself aggressively in markets where European and Middle Eastern competitors have pulled back amid the ongoing Iran-related airspace disruption and elevated jet fuel costs that have weighed on the wider industry through the first half of 2026.
For African travellers, the network changes restore important leisure links and unlock new one-stop options to Asia-Pacific destinations served by Qatar Airways' Doha hub. The Seychelles reinstatement is particularly significant for outbound tourism from Africa, while the new Marrakesh frequency gives Moroccan passengers a sixth-freedom alternative to Royal Air Maroc and Air France.
Qatar Airways now serves more than 30 destinations across Africa, making it one of the largest non-African operators on the continent. Group chief executive Badr Mohammed Al-Meer has previously identified Africa as a strategic growth pillar, citing untapped intra-African and Africa-Asia traffic flows as core to the carrier's next decade of expansion.
The full schedule and booking inventory for the new and restored services is now available through Qatar Airways' sales channels and travel agents.
Compiled from publicly available aviation news sources. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. This article is original editorial content; facts have been verified across multiple public sources.
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