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Qatar Airways’ rapid expansion continues

Published: 12/03/2010 - Filed under: News »

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Qatar Airways’ chief executive Akbar Al Baker has confirmed the launch of a further eight routes this financial year (running until end of March 2011), in addition to the seven already announced.

As previously reported on Business Traveller (See ‘Qatar Airways enters South America’) the airline has already launched daily flights Doha-Bengaluru (from February 22), followed by Copenhagen (four times weekly from March 28), Ankara (four times weekly from April 5), Tokyo (daily from April 26) and Barcelona (daily from June 7). Announced this week were flights to Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, although the start dates have yet to be announced.

In a later conversation Mr Al Baker confirmed that another eight destinations would be added, with “four or five” of these being introduced before the end of this calendar year.

New aircraft deliveries are helping Qatar’s expansion, particularly the B777-200LR aircraft which is capable of extremely long flights. At present Qatar has six of these aircraft, with two of them being used on the Doha-Houston route, and two on the Melbourne route.

The other pair of B777-200LRs is being used for training throughout the network, but with another two arriving in coming months, it would allow Qatar to fly to both Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires with one pair (these flights will be served as one route initially), plus one other ultra long haul destination.

Until recently this additional long haul destination was assumed to be Sydney, but Al Baker has made it clear that he thinks that the city is over-served by airlines, and therefore Qatar would not be flying there in the near-future. This opens up the possibility of Qatar using these B777-200LR aircraft to fly to another destination.

For more information visit qatarairways.com.

Report by Tom Otley

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COMMENTS » 

KSHaggag - 13/03/2010 15:05

I do believe the ultra long haul that QR is keeping secret might be Los Angeles or Vancouver .....high time QR made its foray into the Canadian market ????..

SiteAdministrator - 29/03/2010 10:31

The launch date and flight times for the South American flights to Brazil and Argentina have just been announced.

Qatar Airways today announced that it will begin daily flights to Brazil and Argentina from June 24, marking the airline’s first online operations to South America.

With the airline’s acquisition of two brand new Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft in the last three months, these will be deployed on the two South American routes – to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo and Argentine capital Buenos Aires this summer.

Flight QR921 will depart Doha International Airport daily at 0740 hrs, arriving in Sao Paulo at 1600 hrs. The flight continues onto Buenos Aires, arriving at 2005 hrs. Return flight QR922 departs daily from Buenos Aires at 2305 hrs to Sao Paulo before continuing its journey at 0310 hrs the next day, arriving in Doha at 2310 hrs.

Flights to Sao Paulo will be operated daily non-stop from the airline’s hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar. The aircraft will then continue onto Buenos Aires. Qatar Airways will be the only Five Star ranked airline operating daily to South America with the launch of the new flights.

The aircraft features a total of 259 seats – 42 seats in Business Class in a 2–2–2 configuration and 217 seats in Economy in a 3–3–3 layout offering maximum space and comfort.

The aircraft is designed to operate on ultra-long routes of up to 17 hours non-stop. It already serves Houston and Melbourne, non-stop from Doha.

Qatar Airways recently launched daily flights to the southern Indian city of Bengaluru (Bangalore). Copenhagen joins the network from March 30. Flights to Ankara begin on April 5; Tokyo starts on April 26; and Barcelona from June 7.

The Doha – Sao Paulo flight schedules (all times local) are:

Depart Doha International Airport QR921 DAILY at 0740 hrs, arrive Sao Paulo at 1600 hrs

Depart Guarulhos International Airport (Sao Paulo, Brazil) QR922 DAILY at 0310 hrs, arrive Doha at 2310 hrs

The Doha – Buenos Aires flight schedules via Sao Paulo (all times local) are:

Depart Doha International Airport QR921 DAILY at 0740 hrs, arrive Buenos Aires at 2005 hrs

Depart Ezeiza International Airport (Buenos Aires, Argentina) QR922 DAILY at 2305 hrs, arrive Doha at 2310 hrs following day

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