Brazil And Argentina Become Airline's Newest Destinations, Sao Paulo And Buenos Aires Join International Network Within Months ,Carrier Completes Global Jigsaw Adding Another Continent To Route Map , Airline Also Unveils Capacity Increases At ITB Berlin Travel Show

Motaz Othman, ITM

Qatar Airways announced plans to fly to Brazil and Argentina, spreading its award-winning service to the South American continent for the first time.

South America’s two largest cities – Sao Paulo in Brazil and the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires – will join the airline’s rapidly growing international network over the next few months.

Adding to the five new destinations already planned for 2010, the two South American cities will complete an exciting line-up of new routes for Qatar Airways direct from Doha.

Qatar Airways launched scheduled flights to the southern Indian city of Bengaluru (Bangalore) last month. It plans to serve Copenhagen from March 30; Ankara on April 5; Tokyo on April 26; and Barcelona on June 7 rounding up a busy year for the Doha-based airline. Launch dates for both Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires will be announced in due course.

In addition, Qatar Airways will phase in capacity increases through additional frequencies and deployment of larger aircraft on selected international routes from the beginning of the Northern Summer 2010 schedules on March 28.

These include Geneva, Stockholm, Colombo, Goa, Chennai, Amritsar, Kathmandu, Maldives, Seychelles, Luxor, Shanghai, Guangzhou Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The airline’s state-of-the-art Boeing 777 aircraft – of which there are currently 16 in the fleet – featuring Business Class seats that convert into 180 degree fully flat horizontal beds, will be deployed on the new South American routes and selected existing routes.  

The expansion was announced by Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker on the opening day of ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel and tourism show being held in the German capital this week.

“These are exciting times for Qatar Airways looking forward to further expansion in line with our committed strategy to develop our global operations to all corners of the world,” he said, addressing a packed press conference in Berlin.

“South America is a prime example of our strategy to fly to far flung destinations from our Doha hub in the State of Qatar. By adding Brazil and Argentina, we can finally say Qatar Airways has become a truly global airline touching all parts of the world – and that only 13 years after we began operations as a small fledgling regional airline.

“When I addressed this same very media forum at ITB Berlin last year, Qatar Airways operated a fleet of 68 aircraft. Today we have grown in strength to 81 aircraft – and in the past three months alone, we have taken delivery of nine brand new narrow body and wide body aircraft from Airbus and Boeing to help fuel our expansion programme.

“As more aircraft join the fleet at a rate of over one a month, we need to identify exciting opportunities to deploy them to increase capacity on existing routes, as well as operate to new destinations.”

From March 30, Qatar Airways begins operations non-stop from Doha to the Danish capital Copenhagen. Starting April 5 and following the success of flights to Istanbul, the Turkish capital Ankara becomes Qatar Airways’ second destination in Turkey.

Beginning April 26, the airline expands its operations to the Land of the Rising Sun with daily flights to the Japanese capital, Tokyo. The flights will be operated from Doha via Osaka, representing a significant increase in capacity for the Japanese market. Seoul, which is currently served via Osaka will be de-linked from the Japanese city to become a daily non-stop service from Doha, beginning March 28.

Starting June 7, Qatar Airways’ European network receives another boost with non-stop flights between Doha and the Mediterranean port city of Barcelona – after Madrid, the airline’s second Spanish destination.

With seven new routes lined up during 2010, Qatar Airways will increase its global portfolio to 92 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, South Asia, and North America.

Qatar Airways currently has on order more than 200 new Airbus and Boeing aircraft worth over US$40 billion for delivery over the next few years. The New Doha International Airport, a US$14.5billion facility, is due to open in the Qatari capital next year and is set to become Qatar Airways’ new home.

“Qatar Airways’ robust expansion is continuing undeterred by the current economic climate,” added Al Baker.

“We continue to identify new opportunities around the world to better serve the travelling public. As a network hub airline, Qatar Airways does not rely on traffic from any specific markets, so we are largely immune from the circumstances surrounding the current global economic meltdown.”