Qatar Airways’ chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker presented his vision of the airline as a force to be reckoned with over the next few years, during a media briefing held in Singapore.
Celebrating the launch of daily non-stop flights to the island state using the state-of-the-art Airbus A330 aircraft, Al Baker hosted leading Singapore media figures over lunch at the city’s Four Seasons Hotel.
He outlined the company’s vision to become a key player in global aviation. Only last month, Qatar Airways, which operates a fleet of 40 all-Airbus aircraft, announced plans at the Paris Air Show to acquire up to 80 planes, comprising 60 of the new generation A350s and 20 Boeing 777s worth a total $15.2 billion.
Al Baker said the airline would almost triple its fleet size by the year 2015, which he stressed was an unprecedented expansion that was being admired with envy by the rest of the aviation industry. He described how Qatar Airways had made significant inroads in the industry to become an award-winning airline in just a few years.
As part of the airline’s growth strategy, Al Baker said Qatar Airways was introducing new destinations and increasing frequency on existing routes to offer passengers with a greater choice of flights and convenient connection opportunities over Doha.
The Singapore route, he said, had just been upgraded from an Airbus A300 aircraft to the larger A330 offering the latest in in-flight comfort and amenities. The route is being operated non-stop on all daily flights, cutting out the indirect service via Kuala Lumpur to provide a faster flight time.