Qatar Airways has announced its route expansion programme over the next few months with three destinations joining the airline’s ever-growing global network from its hub in Doha.
The Iranian holy city of Mashad and the Egyptian tourist centre of Alexandria will be added to the network this month, followed four months later by the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in October.
With scheduled flights to Tunis and Algiers launched last month, Qatar Airways increased its tally of destinations to 62 worldwide with a fleet of 40 modern all-Airbus aircraft. The airline has been busy preparing for its 63rd route, when the Greek capital Athens comes on line this month.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said the expansion reinforced Qatar Airways’ status as one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. “Our expansion is being achieved with a dedicated workforce, careful planning and the delivery of modern, reliable and comfortable state-of-the-art aircraft,” he said.
“Qatar Airways is growing at a phenomenal pace opening up new routes and adding new and modern aircraft every year to become an airline of choice. The business is there, the market is there, demand is there – and we operate routes to serve the growing needs of our passengers.” Qatar Airways is also increasing capacity in key markets this summer and the coming winter.
“Over the next few months during the busy summer season, Qatar Airways will be putting extra capacity into certain markets,” he said. “Our Zurich flights will be upgraded from the Airbus A319 to the larger A300s, while our new services to Tunis and Algiers will be also served with the bigger aircraft. We are also looking at increasing frequency to Manchester in the UK.”
Al Baker added: “And we are stepping up the number of services to Germany following the recently-concluded more liberal bilateral agreement between the governments of Qatar and Germany.”