The last decade or so has seen the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family of widebody twinjets become a driving force in modernizing long-haul aviation. Its success, along with that of the Airbus A350, has seen twin-engine aircraft dominate intercontinental travel, signalling the end of the road for four-engine giants like the 
Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 at most operators. However, it isn’t only used for long-haul odysseys between continents.
Indeed, current scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that Qatar Airways has penciled in almost 600 flights with the Boeing 787 this month that are less than 1,000 miles long. This reflects its versatility as a short-haul workhorse on high-demand regional routes.
Up & Straight Back Down
The very shortest of these corridors connects the main Qatar Airways hub at Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH) with neighboring Bahrain (BAH) to the northwest. According to Cirium, this route is just 91 miles (146.5 km) in length, and, while 
Qatar Airways serves it multiple times a day, the Boeing 787 is only deployed a handful of times a month. This December, this amounts to nine flights in each direction across the month.
The dates in question are December 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 18, 25, 27, and 30. While the block times on this route are typically around 50 minutes flying from Doha to Bahrain and 55 minutes coming back, data from Flightradar24 shows that the actual time spent in the air can be as low as 20 minutes. All nine of Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787 rotations on this route in December 2025 use the smaller 787-8 model, with the airline saying when ordering it in 2007:
“The 787 will form the core of Qatar Airways’ regional and medium-haul fleet from the next decade, and its optimum size and outstanding fuel efficiency and economics will underpin the airline’s profitability and competitiveness.”
Short Hops To Other Middle Eastern Hubs
There is a high concentration of major hub airports in the Middle East region, where local airlines leverage their convenient location between Europe and the Far East to offer compelling transit options as well as serving their bases as destinations in their own right. With this in mind, it is unsurprising to see that many of the carrier’s other shortest Boeing 787 routes link its Doha hub with other airports in Qatar’s fellow Middle Eastern nations.
The next-shortest of these routes serves Dammam (DMM) in Saudi Arabia. This facility is located just 140 miles (225.3 km) from Doha, and, this month, will see 22 Qatar Airways Boeing 787 rotations (split between 14 with the 787-8 and eight with the mid-sized 787-9). Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi (AUH), which is 200 miles (321.9 km) from Doha, will see 10 rotations with the Dreamliner, with all but one operated by the mid-sized Boeing 787-9.
Abu Dhabi is one of two major aviation centers in the UAE, with the other being Dubai (DXB). Located 235 miles (378.2 km) from Doha, this airport will see 34 Dreamliner rotations from Qatar Airways this month, split between 16 with the 787-8 and 18 with the 787-9. Meanwhile, the carrier’s 787 coverage in Riyadh (309 miles / 497.3 km) and Kuwait (352 miles / 566.6 km) respectively amounts to 30 and 26 flights in each direction.
Unusual: Qatar Airways Has 3 Routes That Do Not Involve Qatar
These rare flights offer strategic benefits and represent a fascinating exception to the airline’s otherwise Doha-centric network.
Something Different
A major outlier to Qatar Airways’ trend of using Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets on routes within the Middle East can be found in Africa, and, specifically, on the 250-mile (402.3 km) route between Lusaka (LUN) and Harare (HRE). The 
oneworld member will serve this corridor 22 times in each direction this month, but not as a route in isolation. Instead, it represents the second leg of a longer itinerary that originates back at its main hub in Doha.
Operated by the 787-8, QR1455 leaves Doha at 1:40 am and lands in Lusaka at 7:50 am, before, after a 90-minute stopover, continuing to Harare at 9:20 am, where it lands an hour later. Coing back, QR1466 departs Harare at 12:10 pm and, after landing at 1:15 pm, continues onward from Lusaka at 2:45 pm. Its arrival back into Doha is penciled in for 10:45 pm, and, while it’s unclear if many do, guests can book the Lusaka-Harare leg on its own.
