News

Qatar Airways introduces B787 Dreamliner on Hong Kong route

21 Apr 2016 by Jeremy Tredinnick
On April 1, Qatar Airways resumed a second daily flight to Hong Kong using one of the newest members of its fleet: the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This marks the tenth anniversary of the airline’s Hong Kong operations. “This is a year of exponential growth for us,” said Chan Cheong Eu, country manager Greater China South for Qatar Airways. “In March Qatar Airways’ GCEO Akbar Al Baker announced at ITB Berlin that the airline will be opening 14 new destinations in the coming year… and in total almost 20 destinations are now planned between January 2016 and summer 2017.” This aggressive expansion comes in tandem with a sharp increase in the airline’s fleet numbers. “We are receiving one new aircraft every 10-15 days – around 30 aircraft this year alone,” said Chan. “Our new aircraft mean we are exploring new destinations, some of which will be very interesting for the Hong Kong market.” As well as major cities such as Boston (US), Adelaide and Sydney (Australia), the airline is beginning routes to unusual destinations such as Windhoek in Namibia, Marrakesh in Morocco, Sarajevo in Bosnia, Yeravan in Armenia and Pisa in Italy. “These are underserved locations that are growing as destinations and markets,” said Chan. The new Dreamliner flight (QR815) departs HKIA at 0010 and arrives in Doha at 0420. The return flight (QR816) takes off from Hamad International Airport at 0855 and arrives back in Hong Kong at 2120. The airline’s other daily flight to Hong Kong is operated by an Airbus A330-200, but Chan says this is scheduled to be replaced by a second Dreamliner by November this year. “The B787 is one of Qatar Airways’ flagship aircraft. We are at the moment the second largest fleet holder of 787s, with about 27 and 60 on order,” he added. “To celebrate our tenth anniversary we have a series of events planned,” Chan continued. “We have already had a one-day ’crazy’ sale of cheap flights for ten destinations which did very well, and we will be doing a few more of those in the year to come.” Other celebratory events will include online games with customers, street performances, etc, with prizes on offer. The airline is currently offering a sale on business class fares from a range of global destinations, valid until April 24 (see here). In addition, valid from April 18 until May 2 (for travel until November 30, 2016), there are promotional fares from Hong Kong to 40 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, with economy class fares starting from HK$2,170 and business class from HK$12,100 (before tax and fuel surcharges). For more information, visit qatarairways.com/hk Jeremy Tredinnick        
Loading comments...

Search Flight

See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls