Qatar Airways Expands India Flights

By Nancy Oteifa, Kuwait Times

Oct. 7–KUWAIT — Qatar Airways held a press conference at the Hilton Kuwait Resort on Thursday to announce that they would be flying to two new destinations to Nagpur and Ahmedabad in India. Qatar Airways Commercial Department’s General Manager Ali Al-Rais noted that Qatar Airways had purchased 150 airplanes, which will be introduced to expand the company’s network. Our expansion into India has been phenomenal over the past few years. Qatar Airways currently operates 28 flights a week from Kuwait to Doha with convenient connections to the airline’s network of Indian cities. With the new Nagpur flights, Qatar Airways’ burgeoning network across India has risen to 44 services a week to seven cities. Last week, Qatar Airways became the first full-service international carrier from the Middle East to launch flights to the central Indian city of Nagpur with two scheduled services a week,” noted Al-Rais. The launch marked the airline’s seventh destination in India and was welcomed with euphoria as the celebrations were attended by Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al-Baker and Praful Patel, Civil Aviation Minister of India. Al-Rais said that by the year 2008, Qatar Airways will not be receiving too many airplanes; but in 2009 they will be receiving two to three planes a month. “Also, the way we had constructed the new Doha International Airport makes it very unique given that it is built inside the sea and 75 percent of the land is reclaimed land, hence making environmentally safe,” he added. The first phase of the airport will be ready by 2009 and the whole project will be ready by 2015. From now till phase two, Qatar Airways expects to double the number of passengers and once the airport is completely ready, they will be expecting five times more the number of people they receive now. Al-Rais said what makes Qatar Airways different from other airlines is the uniqueness and their focus on the level of customer service they provide. There are a few Qataris working for Qatar Airways and this makes a global business that provides international services. This is why Qatar Airways is one of only five airlines in the world with a five-star ranking for service and excellence awarded by Skytrax. The press conference was attended by the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait M. Ganapathi and Qatar Airways Area Manager-Kuwait Mohammed Al-Jumairi. The ambassador stressed on the good relationship between Kuwait and India. Ganapathi noted that opening more destinations will benefit both countries economically. The airline is now looking forward to December 12 when it will start daily operations between Doha and Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat, which will take a total capacity to India of up to 51 flights a week. Qatar Airways is today one of the largest foreign airlines serving India. In addition to Nagpur, the airline offers daily flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Trivandrum, Cochin and Hyderabad,” he added. Talking about the economic side of this expansion, Al-Rais said India was a vibrant and key market for Qatar Airways. With these two destinations, the Indian economy will grow and nourish — where more people will be going and coming from both countries. This bilateral trade between India and Qatar has an estimated value of $1 billion, the majority is represented by the export of $690m worth of Qatari liquid natural gas (LNG) to India. Qatar Airways was the first Middle East carrier to feature First Class seats that convert into 180-degree fully-flat beds and Business Class seats-cum-beds that recline 160 degrees. It also has one of the most advanced in-flight entertainment systems in the sky on its A330 and A340 long-haul fleet where all passengers in First, Business and Economy Class can play, forward, rewind and stop programs at a time of their choice, giving them more control of their personal entertainment. Al-Rais pointed out that Kuwait is a vitally important market for Qatar Airways and they look forward to welcoming customers on their flights to sample their award-winning service all the way to India via Doha. He also briefed the media on Qatar Airways’ newest European route — four weekly flights from Doha to Stockholm — due to begin on November 27. Concerning the market shares, Al-Rais told Kuwait Times that, “in terms of the company’s global market share, we still don’t have a huge one. But in terms of our network, we enjoy a very sizeable market share and our revenues have been extremely encouraging with persistent growth of 35 percent year after year. Currently we fly 79 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Far East and North America and this number will increase to reach 81 destinations. Talking about the new airport, Al-Rais said, “The first phase of the airport will be ready by 2009, but the whole project will be ready by 2015 and this new Doha International Airport will have a fleet of 110 aircrafts by 2015 which is almost double the existing size”. The airport is very unique where it features a spa, Jacuzzi, fine dining restaurants, meeting rooms, and duty-free shopping. By the year 2015, the airport will be have the capacity of 50 million passengers. The New Doha International Airport is scheduled to open in 2009 and costs US $2.5bn. When fully developed in 2015, it will cost US $5.5bn.

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