Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) and IAG International Airlines Group have announced a joint business agreement wherein the former and the latter's British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) unit will enhance their existing commercial ties.

Under the deal, which comes into effect from October 30, 2016, the two airlines will code-share on all non-stop flights between the United Kingdom and Doha Hamad International, thereby offering customers a combined route network that will serve more than seventy destinations. Between the airlines’ hubs of London Heathrow and Doha, the new partnership will offer seven daily non-stop services in both directions.

Aside from London Heathrow, the ch-aviation route database shows Qatar Airways currently connects Doha with Birmingham, GB, Edinburgh and Manchester International.

In terms of existing cooperation, British Airways codeshares on Qatar Airways' services to Addis Ababa International, Dar es Salaam, Dhaka, Entebbe/Kampala, Islamabad International, Karachi International, Lahore International, and Peshawar. For its part, Qatar Airways codeshares on British Airways' services from Heathrow to Amsterdam Schiphol, Belfast City, Dublin International, Glasgow International; Hamburg Helmut Schmidt, Leeds/Bradford, and Newcastle, GB.

“We are delighted to announce this joint business with Qatar Airways which is one of the world’s premier airlines," IAG Chief Executive Officer (CEO) William Walsh said. "This agreement will benefit customers by giving them access to more destinations through Qatar Airways’ extensive network. It will also allow us to provide easier journeys with better aligned schedules, more frequencies and improved flight transfers. This partnership follows the commercial agreement with IAG Cargo signed two years ago and enhances our relationship with Qatar Airways further.”

The parties also claim the agreement will also strengthen the Oneworld alliance and enable it to more effectively compete on the included routes.

Qatar Airways currently holds a 20.01% stake in the IAG.