Qatar Airways To Slash 8.2% Capacity During Doha Runway Works In 2026

Travelling with Qatar Airlines next spring, you will find fewer seats. Qatar Airways will temporarily cut down on capacity in the global arena as the runway at Hamad International Airport, Doha, is being serviced. The limit extends between April and June 2026.

Doha Runways Maintenance To Cut The Capacity Of Qatar Flights By 8.2%

Qatar Airways communicates that it has already taken the changes into its usual network planning. The runway upgrades are included in the long-term development plan at its hub in Doha and are expected to be completed by early June 2026.

2-Month Extensive Single-Runway Operations In Doha

Aviation Business states that between April 13 and June 13, 2026, Hamad International Airport is going to have only one runway. It typically operates with two runways; reducing this volume reduces the number of aircraft that can land and depart per hour. The maintenance will be planned, but with long-term advantages.

Overall capacity reduction: 8.2%. According to data at ch-aviation, the airline will reduce the total capacity by approximately 8.2 % between the first week of April and the first week of May, during which runway work will reach its peak. The reduction will not impact all routes equally; long-haul routes with high volumes will be the most impacted.

The decrease in the number of seats per flight to London Heathrow Airport will be 4,818 seats per week, which is a 22.2 % decline, and frequencies will be reduced to 48 to 66 flights a week. The number of seats lost will be 2,267, which is 26.5 % of the Bandaranaike International Airport services. Flights into Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, will reduce by 2,025 seats or 19.9 %. The changes in Colombo and Paris will be reduced to three flights per day instead of four.

The Reason Why Airlines Cancel Flights During Runway Maintenance

In case a hub airport decreases runway capacity, schedule integrity has to be preserved by airlines. This implies frequency adjustment instead of the danger of delay and congestion.

Network recalibration is frequent with hub carriers when extensive infrastructure is undergoing a recalibration. It is a normal practise in the industry to reduce the flights by a small margin to ensure that the reliability remains intact, and then full operations are resumed after the construction is final.

Qatar Airways anticipates dual-runway operations to go back to operation before the hectic summer of the northern hemisphere. The summer season incurs increased traffic in Europe, Asia and North America.

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The short-term reduction is used to ensure the airline is able to cope with the limits in the current to later operate without complications.

To travellers, it is just a question of looking to book flights well in advance should they intend to fly in April or May 2026 via Doha.

Cover Image Courtesy: Qatar Airways/X