SINGAPORE—Xiamen Air plans to open two routes to Doha, Qatar, in October, becoming the first Chinese carrier to operate non-stop passenger flights to the Persian Gulf country. 

Doha-bound flights from Beijing Daxing will start Oct. 20 and flights from Xiamen will begin Oct. 31. Both routes will be operated by Boeing 787-8/9s. The Beijing-originating flights will operate daily, while the flights from Xiamen will operate twice weekly. 

CAPA/OAG data shows Qatar Airways is currently the only carrier connecting Qatar and Chinese cities Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Chongqing with 8,826 weekly seats. 

Both Qatar Airways and Xiamen Air will codeshare on the two above routes and participate in full network interline agreement through check-in and lounge access. Qatar and Xiamen are oneworld and SkyTeam members, respectively. 

Xiamen said the new routes to Qatar will create an “Air Silk Road” to facilitate economic and trade exchanges, cultural interactions, business, and tourism between the two regions under the Belt and Road Initiative.