Rapidly expanding Middle East Carrier Qatar Airways has announced plans to launch flights to Baghdad, Belgrade, Erbil and Kilimanjaro over the remainder of this year, as well as reintroducing flights to Yangon, the capital of Myanmar. These five new markets will increase the number of new points to be served from the airline’s Doha International Airport base this year to 14 destinations.
Qatar Airways has already this year introduced flights to the Georgian capital Tbilisi via Baku, Azerbaijan and has already revealed plans to add links to Kigali (Rwanda) from March 21; Zagreb (Croatia) from May 9; Perth (Australia) from July 3; as well as to Mombasa (Kenya), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Helsinki (Finland), and Gassim (Saudi Arabia).
The additional flights will be introduced over a six month period from May. The two destinations in Iraq – the northern city of Erbil and capital Baghdad – will be introduced to the carrier’s Middle East network in May and June respectively and will each be served four times weekly using Airbus A320 equipment.
These will be followed by the new daily link to Kilimanjaro from July, Qatar Airways’ second destination in Tanzania. The city will be served as an extension of the airline’s existing flight between Doha and the Kenyan capital Nairobi and will gain be flown with an Airbus A320. The Serbian capital Belgrade becomes the newest addition to the carrier’s European portfolio in September as a four times weekly extension of its Ankara, Turkey flight, while Myanmar’s capital city, Yangon will again be served three times weekly from October using an A319, after a four-year absence.
Alongside expansion in the passenger market, Qatar Airways will also develop its cargo network with four new routes – Karachi (Pakistan), Seoul (Korea), Johannesburg (South Africa) and Muscat (Oman), to be phased in from March 26, 2012. The carrier currently operates a fleet of six freighters to 33 destinations worldwide. Muscat will be served weekly from March 26; Seoul twice weekly from April 1; Johannesburg twice weekly from April 2 and Karachi weekly from April 3 (the link to the Pakistani city represents the reintroduction of a previously served market).
The new destinations will be complemented by frequencies increases in existing markets. The airline’s twice weekly freight link to Milan will be upgraded to a Boeing 777 Freighter from March 31 while Amsterdam will also be served by the widebodied jet from April 7. It is similar story in the passenger market with many existing routes seeing additional flights this summer.
“Today’s announcement reflects the importance Qatar Airways places on expanding its portfolio of passenger and cargo destinations, and offer more frequency on existing routes to provide more choice, more flexibility and more options,” said Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways. “We are entering new passenger and cargo markets where we see a need for more air services, particularly where such markets are under served and in need for extra capacity.”
“This year alone will see Qatar Airways take delivery of one new aircraft every 15 days, so as we bring them in, they will quickly be inducted into service and we will continue to look at new opportunities,” he added.
The new route announcements were made at the ITB trade show in Berlin, Germany this week, where Qatar Airways also revealed the new interiors that will be introduced on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The airline is the launch customer for the type in the Middle East and is due to receive five aircraft this year, the first set to arrive in the summer.
"I have been waiting for this year's show to present what will make Qatar Airways' 787 design a truly superior aircraft. We are continuously revolutionising and outpacing industry standards in order to present the most comfortable, service-focus product in the skies,” explained Al Baker ahead of the event.
Qatar Airways has up to 60 787s on order, including options. It has confirmed that it will initially operate the aircraft on intra-Gulf routes to provide flight crew with training hours before the first aircraft is put on static display at the Farnborough Air Show in July. It will then be introduced on regular flights between Doha and London Heathrow with suggestions that the carrier’s other UK market, Manchester will also regularly receive the type by the end of the year.
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