Airline announces additional routes and increased frequencies for the upcoming nine months at the launch of ITB Berlin. The air carrier seems unaffected by the global economic situation
New destinations in Europe, Australia and India are top priorities in the expansion of Qatar Airways in the upcoming months. The airline announced in a press conference yesterday at ITB in Berlin that the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne will be added to the airline’s route portfolio in the course of the next nine months. Qatar Airways is further planning flights from Doha to two new destinations, as well as to take up flights to the Indian cities of Goa and Amritsar.
The national air carrier of the state of Qatar will also upgrade existing routes: The number of weekly flight connections to various destinations, such as Geneva, Manila, Muscat, Kuala Lumpur and Lagos will be – in some cases notedly – increased with the beginning of the summer flight plan from March 29, 2009 on.
The company currently disposes of eight long-haul aircraft of type Boeing 777, two of which are the long-range version capable of non-stop flights to Australia. But long-term plans of Qatar Airways are to increase its fleet by an average of one new aircraft per month. The airline, awarded for its service multiple times, currently has orders for more than 200 aircraft, amounting to 40 billion US dollars, with the manufacturers of Airbus and Boeing. At present, the fleet of the quickly expanding company is made up of 68 planes.
With the adaption of additional jets of type Boeing 777-200 LR into their fleet and after the completion of negotiations with the responsible Australian authorities, Qatar Airways plans to take up the long-awaited routes between Doha and the cities of Sydney and Melbourne as soon as possible.
The planned destinations of Amritsar and Goa complement the airline’s range of offers to eleven destinations in India. Amritsar is located in the state of Punjab in the wealthy northwest of the country, and it is home to the world-famous Golden Temple and the religious and cultural center of the Sikh religion. Qatar Airways is further engaged in negotiations for two new destinations in Europe, which are to be announced soon.
The next new route in the network of the Doha-based airline will be Houston, with the first flight to the Texan city to take place on March 30, 2009. On this connection, being among the longest non-stop routes in the world with 17 hours of flight time, passengers of the two aircraft of type Boeing 777 LR will, for the first time, enjoy the new business class featuring perfectly horizontal beds. One of the two aircraft was transferred from Seattle just the weekend before the opening of the Berlin trade fair.
“We are continuing our intensive expansion plans and will not let ourselves be affected by the current economic crisis”, Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, explained in the press conference during the opening of the ITB in Berlin. “Sydney and Melbourne have been on our wish list for a very long time. We now dispose of the necessary aircraft and are glad to soon add both of the Australian destinations to our route network.”
The CEO continued: “India is a focal point in our portfolio and will continue to be one of our most important destinations. India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies. It is our responsibility to provide the necessary mobility to the increasingly closer cultural and economical ties. With the growth of the Indian economy into a global center of power and the consistency that the state of Qatar in creating international ties with, the relationship between Qatar and India continues to grow closer.” The airline already flies 58 weekly connections to nine destinations in India, provides daily flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Hyderabad and Kozhikode, as well as two weekly connections to Nagpur.
„The European market, as well“, Akbar Al Baker continues, „is of central importance for our company. For that reason, we intend to further establish our presence on this continent in the course of the next two months with two new destinations.“ The CEO states that the enormous expansion of Qatar Airways’ offers and its fleet are part of the continued long-term strategy of the company. “We are continuously evaluating possibilities to make use of global flows of traffic and we adapt to changes in the market swiftly and flexibly.“ He says Qatar Airways is a network airline and thus not dependent on specific source and target markets. Due to this, they were able to largely detach themselves from the global downturn. „With the delivery of an average of one additional aircraft per month in the foreseeable future, we are moving on optimistically. We will enhance our market position through the expansion of the existing route portfolio and the adaption of additional routes, providing our passengers with even more possibilities in their choice of destination and the planning of their flights.“
Akbar Al Baker believes his airline optimally positioned for the challenges of the future: „We have clear expectations of the long-term developments of our company. With our plans for this year, we are following our vision quite thoroughly – and we are writing a remarkable success story as a young company with a history of only twelve years.“
In addition to the new destinations, Qatar Airways will increase the frequencies to the following destinations with the start of the summer flight plan on March 29, 2009:
Nonstop from Doha to…
Houston – New route, serviced daily from March 30, 2009
Geneva – Upgrade from 4 to 5 weekly connections from March 29, 2009
Lagos – Upgrade from 5 to 7 weekly flights (daily) from March 29, 2009
Manila – Upgrade from 11 to 14 weekly flights (two per day) from March 29, 2009
Muscat – Upgrade from 15 to 21 weekly flights from March 29, 2009
Mashad – Upgrade from 3 to 5 weekly flights from March 29, 2009
Kuala Lumpur – Upgrade from 7 to 10 weekly flights from June 1, 2009
Algiers – Upgrade from 4 to 6 weekly flights from October 1, 2009
Tunis – Upgrade from 4 to 5 weekly flights from October 5, 2009
Qatar Airways transported nearly ten million passengers in the business year 2007/08. For the business year of 2008/09, the airline is anticipating a passenger volume of 12 million. The air carrier will increase its fleet to 110 aircraft by 2013, nearly doubling the present number of 68. Orders for 80 Airbus A350, 60 Boeing 787, 32 Boeing 777, as well as five Airbus 380 Super Jumbos and six A321 are yet to be fulfilled. Qatar Airways presently offers connections to 83 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, the Far East and America. Qatar Airways is one of only six air carriers to be ranked five stars in the renowned „Skytrax“ ranking for quality and service, the highest attainable valuation. In the ranking of 2008, based on the experiences of more than 15 million passengers, the on-board service personnel was declared the best from the Middle East for the sixth time in succession. In addition, Qatar Airways received the “Skytrax” Award for Best Airline in the Middle East for the third time in succession. In Germany, Qatar Airways offers 24 weekly connections to Doha from Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. More information on Qatar Airways is available on the Internet at www.qatarairways.com – and at www.qatarairways.com/360, passengers can experience the products of Qatar Airways in advance in fascinating 360-degree panorama videos.
