New route news: Qatar Airways grows at Manchester, Ethiopian Airlines adds Gatwick

News in brief:

Qatar Airways adds additional flights from Manchester this winter

Qatar Airways is moving back to its pre-covid level of three daily flights at Manchester Airport.

There are currently 18 flights per week. From 30th October there will be an extra service every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, taking the airport back to 21 flights per week.

You can check flight times and aircraft – the aircraft type moves around quite a bit – on the airline website here.

Ethiopian Airlines decides to grow from Gatwick

You may remember our interview with Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew last month.

We talked about his plans to grow from London and he said:

“Prior to COVID we used to have three more flights per week to Heathrow; we used to have ten weekly flights from London but now we’re limited to seven. In the short term we’re hopeful that we will restore our pre-pandemic frequency of ten and eventually increase to double daily.

“Heathrow is our preferred option. The current plan is to increase frequency to London Heathrow Airport. If we cannot do that then we will go to Gatwick.”

Mesfin has been as good as his word. The airline – having clearly failed to pick up suitable Heathrow slots to add to its existing seven – is adding flights at London Gatwick.

There will be three flights per week from 21st November, leaving every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Flights from Manchester will continue as normal. There are five services per week from Manchester to Addis via Geneva – and if you want to simply fly from Manchester to Geneva in a flat bed business class seat you can, as we did last year.

Our review of Ethiopian Airlines ‘Cloud 9’ business class from our trip to Addis earlier this year is here.

Ethopian Airlines is a member of Star Alliance so you can earn or redeem miles on its flights via any Star Alliance frequent flyer programme.

You can check the timings and prices of the new flights on the Ethiopian Airlines website here.

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How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (April 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

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Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review