Qatar Airways to Expand Wings Around the World

Qatar Airways is all set to expand its horizon in the year 2012. The airline made public its route expansion program for the next year at the Dubai Air Show held on Friday. With the new program, the airline hopes to make its presence stronger in regions like Australia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The five-star airline is going to launch flight to Perth (Australia), Helsinki (Finnish capital), Zagreb (Croatia), Gassim (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Kigali (Rwanda) and Mombasa (Kenya).

While cheap tickets on flights is not exactly what people think when they hear of Qatar Airways, the rise in the competition on the seven routes will perhaps ensure that budget travellers have better chances of grabbing cheap flight tickets.

Each of the seven new routes will be operated from the Qatar Airways’ hub in Doha. As per the airline the routes will become functional over the next few months. These new flight routes will accompany flights to Baku and Tbilisi, the capital cities of Azerbaijan and Georgia, respectively that were announced earlier in the year.

Qatar Airways’ Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker spoke about the company’s aggressive strategy.

“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,” Al Baker was quoted in the company’s press release.

“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.

“Today’s announcement shows the confidence Qatar Airways has in such a diverse range of destinations. We look forward to offering even greater choice to the travelling public that they so deserve,” Al Baker continued.

Qatar Airways’ New Routes

Qatar Airways’ flights to Perth will be second air travel route in Australia after it launched operations to Melbourne couple of years ago.

The airline’s operations to Helsinki and Zagreb will give a boost to Qatar’s presence in Europe. In 2011, Qatar started seven routes to Europe.

If one talks about the African continent, then the launch of three new routes will surely bolster the carrier’s business in the area. Kenya’s Mombasa and Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean are considered popular holiday destinations while Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali is a mining hub and is sure to attract business travellers.

Much closer to home lies the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the airline is in the mood to keep it closer and covered. The carrier has added fifth destination to the country - Gassim.

News Reference