Cardiff to Kazakhstan or Birmingham to Cambodia with a single change of plane: that is the prospect raised by the latest batch of new flights from Qatar Airways.

The Doha-based airline has announced eight additional destinations to join its network in 2020.

Two new cities will be served in Kazakhstan: the capital, Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana), and the largest conurbation, Almaty.

Cultural tourists will be able to take advantage of a new direct link from Qatar to Siem Reap, Cambodia – the airport serving the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat.

With Qatar Airways’ network of routes from the UK, it means Birmingham, Cardiff and Edinburgh will, for the first time, be one stop from Cambodia and Kazakhstan.

Other additions to the airline’s route network include Cebu in the Philippines; the second French city, Lyon; Trabzon, on Turkey’s Black Sea coast; and two African capitals: Accra in Ghana and Luanda in Angola.

Qatar Airways is currently still flying over Iran and Iraq on its links to Britain, despite the Department for Transport’s advice to UK airlines to avoid the airspace.

The carrier is banned from overflying Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.

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