American Airlines Will Fly Nonstop Between NYC and Doha, Qatar

American Airlines plans to launch nonstop flights from New York (JFK) to Doha (DOH) in Qatar, beginning on June 4, 2022. This is certainly an interesting announcement, as American’s Oneworld Alliance partner, Qatar Airways, already operates this exact route twice daily.

Here’s everything we know so far.

American Launches Service to Doha

As mentioned, American’s new flight to Doha will commence on June 4, 2022. The new flight will operate once per day on a year-round basis with American’s Boeing 777-300ER, which features 4 classes of service — including American’s Flagship First cabin.

For those interested in this new route, flights will go on sale on December 12, 2021.

In the official announcement, American also stated that due to delays in delivery of some of its Boeing 787 aircraft, the airline will not resume service to Edinburgh, Scotland (EDI), or Shannon, Ireland (SNN), in 2022.

What This Means for Points Travelers

On the face of it, this new flight means you’ll have one more option for traveling to Doha and beyond, thanks to the connections offered by partner Qatar Airways.

However, all things equal, you should always opt to fly Qatar over American because not only is Qatar’s economy experience better than American’s, but its business class cabin, Qsuites, is significantly better than American Airlines’ Flagship First cabin.

Further, it will cost you just 70,000 American AAdvantage miles to fly in Qatar’s Qsuites between JFK and DOH or the Indian subcontinent, or just 75,000 AAdvantage miles to fly all the way to South Africa. Flights on American Airlines’ own planes can cost significantly more, due to the airline’s dynamic pricing model.

Hot Tip: Check out our complete guide on the best way to book Qatar’s Qsuites with points and miles!

For those chasing American Airlines elite status, why would you do that? you’ll almost always earn more redeemable miles and AAdvantage Loyalty Points by flying with Qatar and crediting the earnings to American than you would by flying on American’s own metal.

However, for those who want to get maximum value out of their AA systemwide upgrade certificates, this route could be a great option.

Final Thoughts

Of course, it’s great to have options, so more airline routes are always welcome. That said, seeing American launch a route already served by a partner with a much better onboard product is definitely a head-scratcher.

Some have speculated that the decision to launch this flight was based on an anticipated increase in demand for travel to Doha, given that Qatar is the host of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 from November to December 2022. If that’s the case, we’ll have to wait and see if this flight becomes a permanent part of American’s route network, or if it’s merely an opportunity to cash in on temporarily increased travel demand.