QATAR Airways has taken another key step to expand operations in Eastern Europe by increasing capacity on its recently-introduced Doha – Budapest route to daily non-stop scheduled services.
Effective September 14, the route will be upgraded with three additional flights from the current four-flights-a-week. And the service, currently operating via Bucharest, will be de-linked from the Romanian capital.
The latest move is part of an expansion in Eastern Europe where the Doha-based airline recently announced it is boosting online operations by launching four weekly flights to Bulgaria’s capital city of Sofia, also from September 14. The Sofia route will be operated via Bucharest.
Qatar Airways began flights to Hungary’s capital city of Budapest in January, and the exceptional response from the travelling public has prompted the decision to upgrade the route within months of the launch.
Qatar Airways is the only Gulf-based airline flying to Budapest, operating an Airbus A320 aircraft, featuring 12 seats in business class and 132 in economy.
Europe has been the focus of Qatar Airways’ recent expansion. Since January 2011, the airline has added not just Budapest and Bucharest to its international route portfolio, but also Brussels and Stuttgart.
On June 15, Venice will become the carrier’s third Italian gateway and besides Sofia, Qatar Airways will also spread its wings to Norway’s capital city of Oslo on October 5.
In addition, the airline will commence flights to the Iranian city of Shiraz on June 5, to Montreal in Canada on June 29 and Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, on July 27.
On April 6, Qatar Airways reached an historic milestone – its 100th destination launch with the start of flights to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.