Bogota to Abuja Qatar Airways Flights

  About Abuja

The city of Abuja, overlooked by the dominating Aso Rock, is the capital city of Nigeria. Located right in the middle of the country, Abuja is a planned city that was developed in the 1980s. It actually managed to replace Lagos to be the new capital of Nigeria.

Best time to visit Abuja

Due to its proximity to the equator, the city of Abuja is hot through most of the year. However, out of the heat that you do face, they are pleasant and mild in some months in Abuja. The city also witnesses some moderate rainfall which adds to the humidity you might face. You will have to prepare yourself mentally concerning the heat as you will face a lot of it. The months January through July though, are pleasant. In fact, January to March is recognised as the best time to visit Abuja. The temperature is at a friendly 26 degree Celsius, and the humidity in the air is quite mild. This helps the tourism industry to attract more crowds. You will actually see a slew of tourists during these months as the mild temperatures are easy on the senses. Due to the peak season though, there is a surge in the hotel prices. You will find cheap hotels also spike up their rates during the peak season. Hence, it would be ideal for making prior hotel bookings to Abuja to avoid the last-minute surge in prices. The good thing is, the flight tickets are quite decent, irrespective of the peak season.

From May through August, you will witness a rise in the humidity level in the air. Even though the temperature is slightly mild, the humidity will make things a little difficult. Travelling within the city or engaging in tourist activities might become tough. You will have to constantly carry bottles of water and ensure that you stay hydrated throughout the day. The humidity will sap out all your energy. Avoiding these months would be the best choice. Unless you're okay with the excess heat, you should at all cost, not plan a trip to Abuja during these months. Instead, you can opt for the months of September through November. These months also see a moderate temperature where the humidity is also not too much. It would be nice to carry equipment such as moisturisers and bottles of water to survive in Abuja. But these mild months would be refreshing and paint a new colour to the vibe of Abuja. You can make prior bookings of flight tickets and accommodations in Abuja to avoid any excess cost. You might even receive some online deals.

Places to visit in Abuja

As part of your Abuja rendezvous, you can start your exploring by checking out the famous Zuma Rock. The rock is composed of gabbro and granodiorite. In the past, the Gbagyi tribe people used the rock to defend themselves from invasions and attacks from neighbouring tribes. You can take up trekking and hiking as an activity to reach the peak of the rock. You should also visit the National Mosque of Abuja. The beautiful structure has a golden dome and boasts Islamic architecture. It is Nigeria's national mosque and holds tremendous religious significance. It was constructed back in 1984 and is open to non-Muslims as well. Aso Rock is another interesting natural granitic rock that is situated on the outskirts of the capital city. Important buildings such as the Supreme Court and the Nigerian National Assembly are both located close by. Another beautiful mosque that you can visit is the An Noor Mosque. The place is quaint and quiet.

Things to do in Abuja

One of the best ways for you to spend your time in Abuja would be to hang out at the Millennium Park. The park is in proximity with the former Presidential Palace. It is beautiful and has the Zuma Rock in the background too. You can actually take a picnic basket and spend your time in leisure at the park. You can also indulge in a boating rendezvous at the Jabi Lake. The scenic landscape is sure to marvel you. You should also visit the National Children's Park and Zoo Abuja. It has some basic animals, including turtles, jackals and more. The IBB International Golf & Country Club is definitely another place that you should visit. The vast expanse is certainly a spectacular sight, plus you can also explore the golf course. Pack yourselves a nice lunch basket and head to Usuma Lower Dam for a lovely afternoon. The place is gorgeous and soothing to the senses, especially since it is not surrounded by the city's noise and bustle. You can also indulge in some waterfalls excursions. The Gurara Falls is one such place that you simply cannot miss. You also should go exploring at the Pedam Lake.

Food and restaurants in Abuja

Abuja's food culture is heavily influenced by the tribal traditions of Nigeria. You would majorly find a lot of dishes that celebrate the Nigerian cuisine and style of cooking. It would actually be a good opportunity for you to try out some exquisite authentic Nigerian cuisine. Their tribal dishes are a rage in the city of Abuja. Over the years though, they have managed to infuse much of their traditional cuisines with European flavours to promote tourism. You will find some lovely African meals favouring European-style cooking. The food culture is a trip on its own and you can make the most of it in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. You can start your culinary excursion in Abuja from the Salamander Café. It is recognised for its cool vibe and manages to attract a slew of native crowds. The quaint cafe offers not just extraordinary coffee but also books to indulge in while you sip on the beverage. The menu is also curated to serve the natives as well as the international crowd. You will find Indian cuisine also in Abuja as the city has the famous Wakkis, a restaurant that boasts Indian cuisine.

From murgh malai to tandoori chicken, if you are in no mood to experiment with the traditional Nigerian cuisine, then you can simply make regular visits to Wakkis. The staff is friendly, and the cooking styles are very indigenous to the raw Indian culture. BluCabana is an interesting restaurant that doesn't just limit to African food but also expands to Middle Eastern cuisine. You will find some exquisite Lebanese food as well as global cuisine such as sandwiches, pastas, pizzas, salads and more. The fish suya is a big seller which basically consists of grilled skewered meat that has been perfectly coated with aromatic spices. At the Bukka at the Hilton, you will find traditional African spread. The dining hall is a vast and beautiful spot which leaves enough room for the fresh breeze to pass through. Not to mention how the classic dishes such as oha soup, pounded yam, jollof rice, egusi soup, to name a few, can be found here. Other restaurants that you can check out are The Charcoal, Vanilla, Jevinik, Dunes Continental and Chez Victor.

How to reach Abuja

As the capital of Nigeria, Abuja enjoys great flight connectivity with other international cities. Abuja does witness some flight action as it is an important city. Although there are no direct flights to Abuja from Indian cities, they do have international airlines that accommodate flights to Abuja. There are many international routes connected to Abuja, such as from Addis Ababa, Kigali, Dubai and Cairo. However, Addis Ababa and Dubai are recognised as the most popular routes to Abuja. Airlines such as RwandAir, Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir, Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, Etihad Airways, Air France and British Airways have flight services to Abuja. Most of these airlines have layovers in their domestic cities. You do not need a specific transit visa when travelling to Abuja. A transit visa is only required when you are travelling from European cities. If you do pick Air France as your airlines to travel to Abuja, then you will need a Schengen transit visa. Similarly, the only other route to Abuja where you would require a transit visa is if you travel by Emirates.

The flight duration of Abuja is quite decent. It takes about 12 hours to 15 hours to reach the city. Flying to Abuja is the only way to reach the Nigerian capital. The flight tickets are a little steep. In fact, they actually start from INR 35,000 and from here, the graph only goes up. Since the flight tickets to Abuja are so pricey, the best way to go about booking a ticket would be to search for online deals. It comes in handy to find great flight deals online to Abuja. You will be surprised by the drastic drop in the ticket prices to Abuja with the addition of discounts. This means you will actually have to invest a lot of time to ensure that you get some good flight deals. You can also use this time to make hotel reservations as that would further reduce the total cost of the trip. These can be found online as various platforms and airlines have sale and discounts. Another way to go about this would be to use up your miles if you are collecting them. You might be eligible for some more discounts depending on the program.

  About Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways Company QCSC primarily operates under the name of Qatar Airways, is the state-owned airline that is also the flag carrier of Qatar. Qatar Airways' headquarters is located in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha. The airline operates as a hub and spoke network with domestic and international routes that connect to over 150 destinations. The airline has excellent flight connectivity with major international cities spread across Asia, Africa, America, Oceania and Europe. Qatar Airways' main hub is at Hamad International Airport, the newest airport to have taken over all the international operations from Doha International Airport. The airline is a member of the three alliance airlines groups, Oneworld. Qatar Airways joined the bandwagon of the airline alliances in 2013 and is touted to be the first Gulf carrier to be a part of the same. Akbar Al Baker is the newly appointed CEO of Qatar Airways who took his position in 2017. He is also a member of the Heathrow Airport board and has been serving the position since 1996.

The airline is wholly owned by the Qatari government and sees all its operations run under the control of the government. The movement took place in 2014 after a major buyout of 50 per cent took place from the former foreign minister and other shareholders. As of 2018, the Qatar Airways Group is known to employ about 45,000 people out of which 32,000 are directly employed for the airline. Qatar Airways is also recognised as one of the largest shareholders in the International Airlines Group, which operates British Airways and Iberia flights. The airline holds 25.1 per cent of shares in the company.

Qatar Airways came into existence in 1993 with its operations commencing in 1994. The airline served Jordan's capital Amman in the same year. Initially, the airline had only 75 employed staff as well as a fleet of two Airbus A310s that served the international routes of Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Kuwait, Bangkok, Madras, Osaka, Tokyo, London, Kuwait, Trivandrum and more. In the same year, two of All Nippon Airways' former Boeing 747s were bought from the aircraft company. Qatar Airways further acquired a second-hand Boeing 747SP in 1996 from Air Mauritius. Over the years, the airlines managed to reach more destinations including Bangalore, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Hanoi, Phuket, Nice, Kolkata, Medina, Oslo, Venice and more. Over the years, Qatar Airways has expanded its horizons in terms of investment by putting money in a slew of ventures and organisations. Primarily, some of the sponsorships include investing in Sky News, FC Barcelona (shirt sponsor), FIFA Partner in 2018 and the official sponsor for 2022 FIFA World Cups, official airline partner for FIA Formula E Championship and more.

Fleet size of Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways currently handles a fleet of 237 aircraft which only comprises of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. From Airbus A350s, A380s to Boeing 777s and Boeing 787s, the airline has worked to bring forth only the top big aircraft.

Qatar Airways Baggage Allowance

Qatar Airways' baggage allowance protocols are mentioned on the website of the airlines. For the first-class passengers, the airline allows two bags that should not exceed 32 kg and should be within the dimensions of 158 cm. The weight and dimension mentioned are the maximum that you can carry. These are only restricted to flights flying to and from Brazil, Argentina, Canada and the US. As for the other international destinations, a maximum of 50 kg with 300 cm dimensions are allowed. Business-class baggage allowance also follows 32 kg weight and the dimension of 158 cm. 2 pieces of bags are allowed for the passenger to carry. Once again, these are only restricted to the passengers flying to and from cities in Brazil, Argentina, Canada and the US. As for cities worldwide, the airline offers 40 kg weight for baggage with a dimension that should not exceed 300 cm. The economy class is also allowed to carry two pieces of baggage, but the weight should not exceed 23 kg. The maximum dimension should also not go beyond 158 cm, similar to the other baggage allowance. It is applicable for cities such as Argentina, Canada and the US.

The economy class allows passengers to carry 30 kg maximum with dimensions of 300 cm. As for bags that can be allowed in the cabin, the passengers can take about two bags weighing 7 kg in economy class while the first class and business class passengers can carry up to 15 kg of baggage.

Qatar Airways In-flight services

First-class - Qatar Airways' in-flight services are phenomenal as it is a boutique airline. The passenger legroom is over 6.5 ft with reclining seats that can be converted into flat beds with added feather duvets. The additional feature of Qatar Airways' first-class cabin is the functions the seats come with. These include massage functions as well as a dedicated entertainment deck within the private first-class suite. The features on Qatar Airways' A380 have a 90-inch seat pitch that can also be transformed into a full flatbed. A 26-inch television screen with personalised entertainment decks. The seat configuration of A380 is 1-2-1. Meanwhile, Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft also has a two-class configuration.

Business-class - The business class of Qatar Airways flights are quite exquisite as well. The comfortable seats can be turned into full flatbeds that have a seat configuration of 1-2-1. The seating arrangement is available on Airbus A380, Airbus A350, Boeing 777 and Boeing 787. The medium and long-haul flights have seats in the configuration of 2-2-2 which also offers flatbed seating that reclines to about 180 degrees and has massage functions too. Much recently, Qatar Airways also introduced new business class seats for their A320 aircraft. The airlines offer personalised entertainment decks on every seat as well as various other in-flight services. The business class is named Qsuite cabin which offers doors and offers window sides on single seats, middle section suites that can be converted into a quad room and allow four passengers to face each other and form a dining-room set.

Economy class - Skytrax named Qatar Airways' economy class as the best in the world for the year 2009 and 2010. The economy class has a seat pitch of 34 inches with individual TV screens for personalised entertainment. These are available on Airbus A350, A380 as well as Boeing 777 and 787. The airline has been making some alterations with better seats and less personal space. The LED monitor has the best in-flight entertainment services. You can also access the internet with the free WiFi, USB ports and power plug points. There are delicious meals available in-flight.

Popular routes and top cities for Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways has developed into one of the best airlines with respect to flight connectivity. In 2014, the official functions of Doha International Airport were shut down with Doha's Hamad International Airport becoming the new hub for flight operations. The airline has been providing flight services to several international destinations. The airline has excellent connectivity and follows a good range of domestic and international routes. In 2012, the airlines included new destinations such as Addis Ababa, Baghdad, Maputo, Mombasa, Yangon, Erbil, Kilimanjaro, Belgrade, Zagreb, Saint Petersburg, Warsaw and Perth, to name a few. Later in 2014, Qatar Airways also added a few more destinations worldwide and added 146 cities in total. The airlines previously also added more international routes to its network such as Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Haneda, Miami, Edinburgh, Djibouti, Turkey, Amsterdam and more. The airlines joined Oneworld in 2013 and became the first major Gulf carrier to be a part of alliance airlines group.

A decision to bar Qatar Airways flights from entering Emirati, Bahraini, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian airspace, following a 2017 diplomatic crisis surrounding these countries. In fact, airlines from these countries have also been banned from entering the Qatari airspace as well as airports. Qatar Airways launched its first flight to Davao, the Philippines from Doha in 2019. In the same year, the airlines also introduced flights to Langkawi with a view to expanding its plans in Southeast Asia. The international route is the airlines' third destination in Malaysia following Penang and Kuala Lumpur. The airline also has undertaken codeshare agreements with airlines such as Air Botswana, Comair, Asiana Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Finnair, IndiGo, Japan Airlines, American Airlines and Iberia, to name a few.

Why travel by Qatar Airways?

Qatar Airways, with its world-class in-flight services and tremendously good connection, is one of the best airlines in the world. The airline strictly caters to luxury travelling, which can be experienced in their flights. You can easily book Qatar Airways flights on the internet as they are available on almost all the travel portals. Not to mention how they have exemplary connections with their domestic routes and international routes. Further, the airline has made knowing more about flight status and Qatar Airways flight schedule easy and accessible. Provisions for web check-in are also available on the official website of Qatar Airways. Such convenient facilities make them an ideal airline.