The Oneworld Alliance and Qatar Airways have finally resumed flights to one of Saudi Arabia’s premier holiday resorts.
Since 3 January 2023, Taif, Qatar Airways’ sixth destination in the largest of the gulf states, has been reconnected with Doha Hamad International Airport.
Although Taif is just over a two hours’ drive from Jeddah, and an hour’s drive from Mecca, to borrow a cliché phrase, it is world’s apart from both of those hotspots. Sitting at an average elevation of around 6000 feet (~1828 meters) above sea level, Taif is undoubtedly much cooler than most other Saudi cities. Consequently, there are a number of resorts in the region, as well as theme parks, local restaurants, and even a giant cable car system:
While living in Jeddah for part of 2017, some colleagues invited me on a weekend trip to Taif. Taif indeed provided a nice respite from the high temperatures of a Jeddawi summer, with vastly different terrain to boot. In addition to the cable car, there were amusement parks, an alpine slide at Al Hada Mountain, plenty of Saudi food like the rice and meat-heavy dish kabsa, and an overall convivial atmosphere.
Want to hop aboard the cable car and check out the natural landscape yourself? Here are the flight details:
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
QR1206 DOH (Doha) Depart 07:40 / Arrive TIF (Taif) 10:10
QR1207 TIF Depart 11:20 / Arrive DOH 13:20
And don’t forget, if you’re a member of British Airways’ Executive Club, you can now seamlessly redeem Avios for Qatar Airways flights; that’s right, Qmiles have been converted in Avios!
Have you ever been to Taif?
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