Middle East carrier bucks airline trend
Qatar Airways yesterday (March 11) announced plans to expand.
The Middle East carrier defied the the current trend of many airlines to cut capacity by unveiling six new routes for its northern winter schedule for 2009.
The six new destinations are Sydney, Melbourne in Australia, Goa and Amritsar in India plus two in European which have not yet been named.
The Doha-based carrier also announced at the ITB travel show in Berlin that it will increase frequencies to selected destinations from the end of this month when its northern summer schedule comes into effect.
These destinations include: Geneva, Lagos, Manila, Muscat, Mashad, Kuala Lumpur, Algiers and Tunis.
It also plans to start a new daily non-stop services from Doha to Houston, Texas at the end of the month.
Akbar Al Baker, Qatar's ceo, said at a press conference: "Qatar Airways' robust expansion is continuing undeterred by the current economic climate.
"India has been, and remains, one of our most important destinations and we are pleased to be strengthening economic and cultural ties with one of the world's fastest growing economies.
"With the growth of the Indian economy into a potential global powerhouse and Qatar's drive to spread its economic wings globally, increasing air links between the two countries is of paramount importance."
Mr Al Baker said Europe was also of strategic importance to Qatar and there was a need to widen its market there with two new routes to be launched later this year.
www.qatarairways.com