Qatar Airways operate flights 14 times a week between Manila to Doha

Qatar Airways clarified yesterday that it has 14 weekly flights to Philippines between Manila and Doha, and not twice weekly as reported in The STAR on April 3.

The airline recently ended its thrice-a-week direct flights between Cebu and Qatar, which is not part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was the only direct flight from Cebu to the Middle East. Passengers from the Visayas who want to fly to Doha must now go to Manila first.

The end of the direct flights from Cebu was reported shortly before the visit in Manila of Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

"Sheikh Hamad is the Emir of the State of Qatar and not the Emirates leader," Qatar Airways country manager Abdallah Okasha pointed out in a letter to The STAR.

Qatar Airways showcases Boeing 777 long-haul in Bahrain International Air Show

Qatar Airways has taken part in its first major event of the year, displaying one of its flagship Boeing 777 long-haul aircraft at the Bahrain International Air Show.

Thousands of trade and public visitors attended the three-day event which took place at Sakhir Air Base in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Qatar Airways also had a luxury chalet at the show.

Now in its 15th year of operations, the airline has a modern fleet of 104 aircraft flying to 110 key business and leisure destinations across six continents.

Almost a quarter of Qatar Airways’ fleet is made up of Boeing 777 Long Range (LR) and Extended Range (ER) passenger and cargo aircraft, forming the backbone of its long-haul fleet.

On display in Bahrain was a 259-seat Boeing 777-200 Long Range (LR) aircraft, capable of flying to any ultra long-haul business or leisure destination worldwide non-stop from the airline’s hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar.

Qatar Airways currently operates nine Boeing 777-200LRs, deployed on many long-range routes from Doha, such as Sao Paulo, Houston, Melbourne and Montreal.

Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: “We were extremely delighted to showcase our flagship Boeing 777 aircraft in Bahrain giving people an opportunity to see the aircraft and its wonderful features first hand during the static display.”

The Boeing 777-200LR on display featured 42 seats in Business Class in a 2–2–2 configuration, which is one less seat per row than competitors and offering far more space than other airlines.

Equipped with seat-back TV screens measuring 17 inches in Business Class, the seats recline to 180 degrees offering fully flat horizontal beds and have a pitch of 78 inches.

Economy Class onboard the Boeing 777-200LR features 217 seats in a 3–3–3 configuration, again more space than competitors with one less seat per row. With a pitch of up to 34 inches, all Economy seats also have individual TV monitors measuring 10.6-inches.

Qatar Airways to begin add-on flights to Kigali

A usually well-informed source within Uganda’s aviation regulatory system has confirmed that Qatar Airways, since early November coming daily to Entebbe, will commence onward flights between Entebbe and Kigali, come March 21, 2012.

The flights will, on arrival in Entebbe, disembark passengers destined for Uganda before continuing to Kigali, from where then the return journey to Doha via Entebbe will begin. It is understood that Qatar Airways will have full 5th freedom traffic rights between the two destinations, according to the same source, giving the airline a clear competitive advantage over other Gulf aviation rivals, none of which is yet flying to Kigali.

The aircraft used will continue to be an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 in business class and 132 in economy class. The new add-on destination will benefit tourism and trade in Rwanda as "The Land of a Thousand Hills" will be linked to Qatar Airways’ global network, through which passengers can reach the capital Kigali with but two stops enroute, in Doha and in Entebbe.

Qatar Airways will, in early 2012, also commence flights from Doha to Mombasa and Zanzibar, and the addition of Kigali will round up a comprehensive presence with daily flights, and in the case of Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, double daily flights between Qatar and East Africa.

Qatar Airways has outlined route expansion plans for 2012

Qatar Airways has outlined route expansion plans for 2012 focused on Australia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, with a raft of new destinations set to join the airline’s rapidly-growing global network.

Highlights include Perth in Western Australia, the Finnish capital Helsinki, Croatia’s capital city of Zagreb, Gassim in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and three East African cities – Zanzibar, Kigali and Mombasa, in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya, respectively.

Operating from the airline’s hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, all seven new routes will be launched over the next few months.

They will join previously announced Baku and Tbilisi, the capital cities of Azerbaijan and Georgia, respectively, which will become part of Qatar Airways’ family of routes from February 1st 2012.

“We are continuing what we started back in 1997 when Qatar Airways was launched with new routes and new aircraft being introduced at an unprecedented rate to further strengthen what is truly a global network airline,” said Qatar Airways chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker (pictured above).

“Our mission has been to operate to key business and leisure destinations around the world, but also to underserved markets where others dare not venture into.

“We take bold decisions to serve certain markets because we believe it makes strong business sense.”

Qatar Airways was recognised as the Middle East’s Leading Airline Business Class by the World Travel Awards earlier this year.

The carrier will defend the title on home soil during the WTA Grand Final in Doha on January 11th.

Qatar Airways launches new route to Chongqing in China

Qatar Airways launched a new route to its fourth destination in Mainland China on 28 November. The airline now flies from its Doha (DOH) hub to Chongqing (CKG) in Southwest China – known as the world’s most populous municipality at 29 million inhabitants. The flights, which complement the airline’s services to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, are operated three times weekly with A330-200 aircraft. This is the first intercontinental route to Chongqing, which also will gain a connection with Europe in May next year when Finnair launches operations to the city. Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al Baker commented: “Qatar Airways has been closely monitoring the dynamic Chinese market and looking at viable opportunities. Qatar Airways is demonstrating confidence of doing business with partners in China and the opening of Chongqing, particularly being an up-and-coming city, shows our commitment to a vibrant economy.”

Qatar Airways joins tight airline market competition

National carrier, Qatar Airways, has announced a further expansion of its international route network with Uganda, Azerbaijan and Georgia, joining its growing list of countries served direct from the airline’s Doha hub.

This development could tighten competition in the respective markets.

The daily non-stop scheduled flights to Uganda are due to begin on November 2, marking the carrier’s first new route to the African continent since early 2007.

This will be followed by the airline’s expansion into Central Asia where it is expected to introduce daily non-stop flights to Baku then continue onto Tbilisi, the capital cities of Azerbaijan and Georgia respectively.

The announcement comes as the Doha-based carrier prepares for a busy few months ahead with the launch of scheduled flights to Shiraz, Venice and Montreal in June; Kolkata (Calcutta) in July; Sofia in September and Oslo in October.
Qatar’s entrance into the country brings the total number airlines to21.

Unveiling the expansion plans in Dubai on may 2, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the new routes demonstrate the airline’s ambitious strategy to continue opening up new routes to popular and underserved markets.
Uganda is fast emerging as a regional trading centre with links to Europe and the Far East, but has limited international air services.

Qatar Airways is set to fill this gap with its huge international network of routes via its Doha base.

The three newest routes will be operated with Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.

“There is clear demand and huge potential and, as a network global carrier, we shall be able to fulfill the needs of the travelling public from these three countries and for those wanting to travel there from markets we serve around the world,” Mr Al Baker said.

“Qatar Airways already has a successful operation to the Russian capital Moscow. Expanding our presence deeper into Central Asia has been a focus of ours for some time so it is with extreme delight to be able to announce we will soon have new routes to add in this part of the world.”

He said the Airline is proud to reinforce its presence in Africa, four years after its last move thereas it launched flights to Tanzania’s capital city of Dar es Salaam.