Airlines
From Alhannah
For all practical purposes, Doha international airport (DOH) is the entry and exit point for Qatar (currently, the alternative is to drive through Saudi Arabia, which is impractical for many destinations and impossible for most; but in a couple of years, when the causeway to Bahrain is completed, flying out of Manama will be a concrete alternative).
The official web page of DOH contains a number of useful information, for example a list of the airlines that fly in and out of Doha and an interactive timetable, also available as a hefty PDF. More on some of the airlines that fly out of DOH below.
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Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways is the national airline and DOH is its hub. It has direct flights to a large and growing number of cities in the Middle East, Europe and Asia, and to a couple of destinations in Africa. They offer direct flights to Dulles, Virginia and Newark, New Jersey. Qatar Airways partners with a number of airlines, notably Lufthansa, Alitalia, United, and ANA, both for codesharing and for its highly asymmetric frequent flyer program, Qmiles. Qatar airways has an outstanding business class.
Air Arabia
Air Arabia is the local budget airline. It is based in Sharjah in the U.A.E. and all flights start or end there -- there is currently one flight a day from Doha. The prices are good, but remember this: the actual amount you pay bears little discernible relation to the advertised fares. You will generally land at your destination at some odd hour of the early morning. And if you cancel a ticket, you will not get a refund. Instead, they will hold a "credit" for you for a year. But trying to access this credit for an actual flight turns out to be nearly impossible.
Emirates
Emirates is based in the UAE, with their major hub in Dubai. The prices for economy travel are pretty reasonable, and the amenities are quite good; however, almost all travel on Emirates from Doha starts with a very early morning flight and several hour layover in Dubai. Emirates offers flights to major cities all over the world, including a direct flight to New York. There have been reports that the frequent flier program, Skywards, is particularly generous; at the time of this writing, it doesn't seem possible to get information online about reward levels without actually signing up for the program.
Gulf Air
Gulf Air ...
British Airways
British Airways ...
KLM
KLM ...
Lufthansa
Lufthansa runs codeshares with Qatar Airways, and in 2006 has starting running its own flight from Frankfurt to Doha with a stopover in Kuwait City. It is often the cheapest way to get back to the states, connecting through Frankfurt or Munich.
Bahrain Air
Bahrain Air is a budget airline operating out of Manamah, Bahrain. They are brand new, having just started operations in February of 2008.
