On March 31, 2024, JAL launched its first route to the Middle East, Tokyo Haneda – Doha. The return flight to Tokyo will operate for the first time on April 1, 2024. At the same time, JAL’s oneworld partner Qatar Airways discontinued the same route but continues to operate to Narita.
With that, JAL’s flights to Doha will operate daily with the following schedule:
- JL59 / Tokyo Haneda – Doha / 10:50PM – 4:40AM+1
- JL60 / Doha – Tokyo Haneda / 7:15AM – 11:55PM
JAL is using its Boeing 787-9s in “E91” configuration, which seat a total of 203 passengers including 52 in business, 35 in premium economy, and 116 in economy class on the route. While in business class the hard product is inferior to Qatar Airways’ QSuites, in economy class, JAL offers extra comfort thanks to its 2-4-2, eight-seats-abreast layout as opposed to most other 787 operators’ 3-3-3, nine-seats-abreast layout.
The new route is JAL’s first scheduled route to the Middle East since the airline terminated its multi-stop route JL471/JL472 to Europe on August 2, 1990. Those flights connected Tokyo Narita with Athens via Bangkok, Kuwait, and Cairo.
While Qatar Airways discontinued its flights to Tokyo Haneda and put its code on JAL’s flights instead, the airline still continues to operate Doha – Tokyo Narita daily. As such, there will continue to be two daily flights between Tokyo and Doha, one from Haneda and one from Narita.
