Qatar Airways completes world’s first fully vaccinated flight
Qatar Airways has this morning conducted the world’s first ever flight on which all passengers and air crew had been vaccinated.
The trial flight, which was designed to demonstrate the airline’s Covid safety systems, took off from Hamad International Airport this morning and returned three hours later.
The Gulf airline, which is also trialling IATA’s digital travel certificate – or vaccine passport – has been spearheading attempts to show that air travel can be made safe for passengers after the pandemic.
Unlike many other carriers, it has also been able to continue its flying programmes by helping countries to repatriate their citizens.
It is currently running 1,200 weekly flights to 140 destinations.
Qatar Airways’ chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: “Today’s special flight demonstrates the next stage in the recovery of international travel is not far away.
“We are proud to continue leading the industry by operating the first flight with a fully vaccinated crew and passengers and providing a beacon of hope for the future of international aviation.
“With aviation being a critical economic driver both globally and here in the State of Qatar, we are thankful for the support we have received from our government and local health authorities to vaccinate our staff, with over 1,000 vaccinations being administered per day.”