Qatar Airways Launches Massive New 21-Hour Route Today: See Map Now

Published Nov 4, 2026, 7:00 AM EST James lives and breathes route development. Educated in Air Transport Management at Loughborough University and Cranfield University, James has a PhD in Airline Strategy and Economics. James was Market Opportunity Analyst at London Luton Airport and Chief Analyst at anna.aero. He taught airline strategy and economics to undergraduate and postgraduate students for five years and has worked closely with multiple carriers on route and market intelligence projects. He is based near London, UK. On November 4, Qatar Airways took off from Doha to Bogotá and Caracas on a brand-new commercial service. Flights were originally scheduled for July, then September, and then November. The delayed start was, of course, due to the ongoing war in Iran. It is an extraordinary new route. It is the first time that the oneworld member has had a passenger service to Colombia and Venezuela. It brings the airline's South American passenger network to three countries, joining Brazil, and three cities, joining São Paulo. Qatar Airways To Bogotá & Caracas Credit: Austin Deppe | Shutterstock On November 4, three and a half months later than originally planned, Qatar Airways lifted off from its Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH) hub to Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport (BOG) and Caracas's Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS). Operating on a triangular basis, the inaugural service is DOH-CCS-BOG-DOH. This direction — stopping in CCS before flying from BOG back to the Gulf — is notable because of BOG's renowned high elevation, which reduces takeoff performance with a high payload. As the leg from Colombia back to DOH will cover 7,179 nautical miles (13,296 km) on a great-circle basis, it is a very long way. It is not known how full the first flight is. Things will then be different. From the second service, the routing will be reversed, flying DOH-BOG-CCS-DOH. This directionality will enable a higher passenger and freight payload from South America, assuming, of course, that the flights are sufficiently full anyway. It is probably unlikely to be the case. Ordered By The Qatari Government?! When the long route was announced in May this year, a source in network planning told Simple Flying that "the new route has obviously been ordered by the Qatari government, otherwise it simply wouldn't be operated twice-weekly." That is, of course, a very low frequency for the global operator, even from the get-go and even for what is a brand-new offering. Days Leg (Directionality Based On The Second Service Onward) Flight Number Local Times Block Time Wednesdays, Sundays DOH to BOG QR783 7:25 AM-4:25 PM 16 hours and 50 minutes Wednesdays, Sundays BOG to CCS QR783 5:55 PM-9:00 PM (no traffic rights) 2 hours and 5 minutes Wednesdays, Sundays CCS to DOH QR783 11:30 PM-8:35 PM 14 hours and 5 minutes The Boeing 777-200LR is scheduled on all flights. Flightradar24 shows that the airframe on the first service is the 17.8-year-old A7-BBB (shown above), which has 272 seats. There are 42 seats in business (1-2-1; QSuites, which are enclosed suites with sliding doors) and 230 seats in economy (mainly 3-4-3; 32" pitch). Starlink Wi-Fi is available. In the 12 months to August 2026, booking data via OAG Traffic Analyzer shows that traffic from BOG/CCS to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Eastern and Southern Africa was fairly minimal. Just 137,000 round-trip passengers are estimated to have traveled, which is equivalent to about 375 people a day. Loading map… Drag to explore The traffic is served by multiple carriers, particularly Emirates (flying to BOG via Miami) and Turkish Airlines (serving both BOG and CCS). Others also play an important role, especially Air France (BOG), KLM (BOG), and Lufthansa (BOG). With Venezuela having 750,000+ people of Lebanese citizenship or descent, Beirut will probably be an important market for Qatar Airways. It Is Qatar Airways' Longest Route Credit: Soos Jozsef I Shutterstock Let's focus on what's planned from now until next summer. In this period, DOH-BOG-CCS will have a maximum block time of 20 hours and 35 minutes, which includes the ground stop in Colombia. Analysis shows that it is, and will remain, Qatar Airways' longest offering in this period, but not by much. Due to the ongoing war in Iran, flights between DOH and Auckland stop en route in Australia in both directions. Flying back to the Gulf, the stopover city is currently Adelaide, with a maximum block time of 20 hours and 15 minutes. In early December, Melbourne will take over, with the block time being 20 hours and 10 minutes. Auckland's routing will change again next year. In June 2027, Brisbane will become the stopover point, with the block time being up to 20 hours and 20 minutes. In all three instances, DOH-BOG-CCS is slightly longer.