BERLIN: Qatar Airways has announced plans to launch scheduled flights to Australia and further expand its operations in India and Europe with new routes from the start of the Northern Winter 2009 schedules.
Flights to the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne, together with new services to Goa and Amritsar in India, and two new European services are being earmarked over the next nine months.
In addition, the Doha-based carrier will increase frequency to selected destinations across its global network from March 29. The expansion was announced on Wednesday at ITB Berlin, described as the world’s largest travel and tourism show being held in the German capital this week.
Subject to regulatory approval, the long-awaited Australian services will become reality as more Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft join the fleet. There are currently eight Boeing 777s in Qatar Airways’ fleet of 68 aircraft, of which two are the Boeing 777 Long Range version capable of flying from Doha to Australia non-stop.
Amritsar, located in the rich northwestern Indian agricultural heartland of Punjab state, and the popular idyllic beach holiday state of Goa are the two new routes that will boost the carrier’s Indian capacity from nine to 11 destinations. The airline is also finalizing plans to step up its European presence with two new routes.
Its first new route launch this year will be daily flights between Doha and Houston which, at just under 17 hours, will be one of the longest non-stop flights in the world. Beginning March 30, the Houston route will feature its new fully flat business class seats deployed on its two Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft, which the airline took delivery of over the past six weeks.
The award-winning Doha-based airline currently has on order more than 200 new Airbus and Boeing aircraft worth over $40 billion.
“Qatar Airways’ robust expansion is continuing undeterred by the current economic climate,” said its CEO Akbar Al-Baker.
“Sydney and Melbourne have been on our radar screen for many years. And India has been, and remains, one of our most important destinations,” he added. The airline currently operates 58 flights a week to nine cities across India — daily to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Tiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Kozhikode and twice-weekly to Nagpur.
