Qatar Airways has announced it will introduce a fourth US gateway into its route network in spring 2013 with a daily link between its Doha International Airport hub and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport from April 10, 2012. The new service, to be flown using a Boeing 777-300ER, will support the carrier’s existing operations to New York, Washington and Houston.
“As Qatar Airways continues its aggressive expansion, we are pleased to finally offer another gateway in the United States, this time to the ‘The Windy City’ of Chicago, five years after we began operations to North America,” explained Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways as this week’s formal announcement of the new route. “Chicago is a key route for business and leisure travellers alike, connecting them from destinations across India, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific with a one-stop service via Doha to the Midwest.”
The new Qatar Airways’ service will be the fourth non-stop link between Chicago and theMiddle East alongside the flights of Etihad Airways, Royal Jordanian Airlines and Turkish Airlines to Abu Dhabi, Amman and Istanbul, respectively. Israeli national carrier El Al also provided flights to the US city from Tel Aviv but suspended the route in 2001.
Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe, Qatar Airways has revealed plans to serve Warsaw, the capital of Poland, as well as the launch schedule of its previously confirmed flights to the Serbian capital, Belgrade. The announcement follows just six weeks after Emirates Airline said it too would fly to Warsaw with a daily flight from Dubai International due to be introduced from February 6, 2013.
Qatar Airways confirms that it will introduce its three times weekly link between Doha and Belgrade from November 20, 2012. The Serbian capital will be served by Ankara using a two-class Airbus A320 configured with 12 Business class and 132 Economy seats. The new link to Warsaw Chopin Airport will follow a matter of weeks later on December 5, 2012 and will be flown on a four times weekly basis.
Akbar Al Baker said the addition of Poland and Serbia demonstrated the airline’s commitment to launch destinations that are largely underserved. “Over the past two to three years we have identified great opportunities to probe markets across Europe that are largely underserved by full service international airlines. We are delighted to have subsequently started services to some of these destinations and are extremely pleased by their performance so far.
“I am sure both Belgrade and Warsaw will prove to be just as successful as our other route start-ups providing travellers from both these cities and surrounding areas with great travel options to fly to Doha and conveniently onwards with Qatar Airways to cities across the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific,” he added.
Warsaw is developing as an important business centre as many companies establish a base in the city due to the huge investment benefits offered by the Polish government. Alongside the point-to-point demand, the Middle East carrier expects to generate a lot of transfer traffic on both of its new Eastern European routes due to the limited exposure to long-haul markets from both cities.
(by Declan Maguire, Editorial Assistant)
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