No Surprise: Air Canada Cuts Toronto To Doha Route

It's true that Air Canada and Emirates have "reciprocal redemptions" but the prices in Aeroplan points are so high that it might as well be unavailable. 90,000 - 140,000 points oneway in Business Class from North America to Middle East and beyond is a competitive price range but 340,000 is not. I sometimes feel I'm living in a parallel universe, in which OMAAT isn't seeing the same search results I see on AirCanada.com. I read this site faithfully and the enthusiasm for AC is unambiguous. But my experience (and that of all Canadian residents in this game) of Aeroplan 2.0 is disappointing and frustrating. I'd like to see some perceptive coverage of Aeroplan's glaring deficiencies, instead of endless puff. Aeroplan is for Canadians. Canadians are carrier-captive. We have to interact with this thing. I know this is an American publication with a mostly American audience, but this is a relevant part of the story. There's something wrong with Aeroplan. Where can we read about that, if everyone's drunk the KoolAid®?

I thought Qatar Airways had the right to fly to Canada 10 times a week and split it 4-3 between Montreal and Toronto. Has the agreement between the two countries been cancelled?

And the World Cup in Doha has now come and gone so that could have an effect here.

Ignore the anytime pricing with Air Canada and focus on saver pricing with other airlines. Problem solved.

4 + 3 =10?

We can only dream QR would be allowed YYZ 🙁

Bottom Line: Air Canada trying to compete with QR is like a beat up constantly breaking down car competing with a Benz. It's just not gonna happen.

I’m sure a lot of the reason for this flight existing was for Canadian team delegates going back and forward in the 18 months or so leading up to the World Cup. Now that the World Cup is over…

I’ve been on this flight many times and it was always busy. I was surprised at this cut as there are many Canadians in Doha and it was an easy trip back to Canada. To be honest though, it was the convenience not the quality that made me chose this flight. I probably won’t be choosing the air canada dxb flight instead.

I still find YUL-CAI in the books, so that's another destination in the Middle East

DenB,

You hit the nail on the head, but it seems all blog publications are either spoiled by the choice of options in not being limited to Canadian programs only, or, are so far in bed with Air Canada that they dare not mention anything other than the thralled unconditional support, admiration, or gratitude lest they find themselves sleeping on the couch with no inside scoop or preferred treatment.

The reality is that you'll only hear of the issues plaguing the program in the crevices of comment sections here and there or Flyertalk.

Sadly, this is the reality we live in

Air Canada needs more direct flights to sub continent destinations such as Colombo, Dhaka, all major Indian cities, All the Middle East carries act as middle man, I would rather take direct flight then a connection.

Officially Egypt is a North African Arabic speaking but not Middle Eastern country (similar to Morocco).

Sadly, that's reality across the board now though: the days of sub 100K redemption for transoceanic Business/First travel are long gone.

Heck, with many carriers nowadays, that'll barely get you into Premium Economy.

And on the extreme end, Delta will happily look you square in the eye, then ask for 900K to a million miles for a single-person redemption to the likes of Sydney.

I don't know. But I'm tempted to speculate. If QR were permitted to fly to YYZ beginning next Thursday, the planespotters would see their plane there Friday. I simply can't believe they would delay Toronto service if it was permitted. I have always assumed that the deal restricted QR to YUL and in exchange, AC got YYZ-DOH. Perhaps now that changes. 75,000 Avios + USD$100 for 12 hours in QSuites is a better value than 250,000 Aeroplan points +CAD$120 for 12 hours in "Signature Class". I'm so confident in that statement I'm going to state it as a fact, not an opinion.

It was the schedule. QR's YUL service is at a hideous time for anyone originating in the Middle East or Africa. 18 hours in Hamad? Hmmmm AC looks slightly less yucky

So tired of that Canada protecting Air Canada and it’s poor services… once you flew Qatar business class or even regular class… do you really think travellers would go back to Air Canada which is always way more expensive than Qatar for 1/4 of the value …

Imagine the shock of those who bought the flight as a codeshare and ending up on AC lol

@Glenn

Officially pedants are technically correct, but unofficially they're socially inept and should not be allowed to interact with normal people.

Which is why AC has fought so hard against allowing QR into YYZ.

They stand no chance.

We should let QR (and EK/EY) operate as many flights as they can commercially sustain.

And then noone has to put up with AC and their below 50% on time record

I can see why:
1: air Canada is more pricey
2: Qatar Airways services are super in comparison to air Canada
3: customer service of air Canada is below par

Some strong network analysis again. If you read some stats ( https://www.routesonline.com/news/29/breaking-news/299142/air-canada-suspends-doha-route/) you can see that for example Iran was a very popular destination for pax on this flight and they bring in crazy good money due to the general lack of connectivity to / from Iran.

Also the North American flights connecting in Doha are mainly occupied by expats paying tickets for VFR traffic, so all the conclusions that these routes cannot be 'profitable' do not make any sense.

AC just has to make choices regarding their long hauls since they do not have spare Dreamliners lying around, so a connection onto EK might make more sense if that partnership is closer. However, they operated DXB anyway already, so it is not like they had to choose between DXB / DOH. Overall a loss for Canadians mainly, with the AC monopoly still protected by the government.

And USA is a Central american country.

Flew J class YYZ-DOH on AC with onward connection via QR. What stood out was the low energy ‘grandmother’ service on AC (which actually was better than I expected) and the high energy, proactive FAs on QR. The food on QR absolutely smoked the utterly mediocre AC offerings. (The food at Pearson’s AC Signature Lounge was a standout, as was the service by way of comparison). I don’t understand why the Trudeau govt. keeps mollycoddling private AC when it won’t provide service to Doha from YYZ. QR should be given a daily flight out of YYZ to Doha.

Doesn't matter I don't care, but Air Canada is ignoring Toronto to Lahore. Large Pakistani community are suffering for years. Especially, when Air Canada has four flights daily to India. It is unjust for this preferential treatment for one community over another.

Air Canada, the poorest airline, compared to Qatar Airways and Emirates would not compete in this area. I took Air Canada to Doha during World Cup tournament and regretted being a passenger. Actually, Qatar Airways to Montreal route non stop with free wifi and more than 4 great meals would be the best option for travellers. Air Canada is the worst airline ever in recent years

Why the comparison?

Balance 3 is just in case for any cancellations.

You obviously haven't been to Hamad!

I do not think lack of reciprocity and genuine partnership is the main cause but the pressure from Qatar airways on that route as many passengers stop in Doha to continue to other exotic destinations. So Air Canada was a medium to an end . Another reason only 5% of passengers has Doha as a final destination another reports reads. So Air Canada team thought this is not good enough to sustain this route. Air Canada needs to take a more adventurous approach to initiate and sustain more routes to promote a travel and tourism culture into the Canadian spirit among which West goes East initiative.

Qatar airline will start on this route -seems a mutual understanding .
it will be very good and beneficial for Toronto- Amritsat passengers.

I feel this was bound to happen. Lets be obvious here Qatar Airways is obviously better than Air Canada in both service as well as in flight demand. Hopefully this route is resumed and that too by Qatar Airways and nor Air Canada

Air Canada is the one of the safest air line and has talented pilots in the world

Air canada is the worst airline overall. They did it because Qatarairways was doing good and air canada isn't. So they'll find a way to ruin it