Award-winning Qatar Airways is proud to announce a sponsorship of the world renowned Melbourne International Jazz Festival, which kicks off in the Victorian capital today. 

Jazz lovers from around the world are converging on Melbourne for the 10-day festival that has been a firm favourite on Australia’s music calendar for many years.                                                        

The Gulf-based airline, which operates daily flights between Melbourne and Doha, has signed an exclusive partnership deal that sees some of the world’s leading jazz musicians, celebrities and artists descending on the state capital for the musical extravaganza. The festival takes place in different venues across the city. 

The free Qatar Airways Opening Celebration Concert at Federation Square on 2^nd June Saturday, features Chris Potter and the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, followed by Robert Hurst, Jamie Oehlers and Dave Beck for a scintillating trans-continental collaboration and The Cactus Channel who are making huge waves on the Melbourne live music scene. 

Melbourne has grown to become a leading international destination for jazz musicians, following in the footsteps of great cities like New York, London, Chicago and Paris. Melbourne’s rich pool of home grown talent has attracted collaborations from around the world to further cement the city’s position as a great music hotspot. 

Qatar Airways is also the exclusive title partner sponsor of the Modern Master Series, one of this year’s major events with headline acts including the McCoy Tyner Trio, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Dr Lonnie Smith. 

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said that the airline was proud to be associated with such a prestigious event, flying jazz singers and musicians to Melbourne from around the world for 10 days of wonderful entertainment. 

“Melbourne has grown in stature as a leading entertainment centre and at Qatar Airways, we continue our long-established tradition of supporting only the best cultural events around the world – Melbourne International Jazz Festival is no exception,” said Al Baker. 

Qatar Airways Country Manager Australasia Rola Obeid added: “Melbourne was Qatar Airways’ first destination in Australia, launched two-and-a-half years ago. The city’s cultural attractions and growing popularity as a leading tourist centre were among the reasons we decided to fly here in Melbourne. We proudly added Melbourne to our global destination network and have never looked back”.

“As Qatar Airways flies leading jazz artists from around the world into Melbourne and, at the same time, experience our award-winning Five Star service, Qatar Airways continues to showcase its world-renowned hospitality on the world’s best airline.” 

Qatar Airways operates daily scheduled non-stop flights from Melbourne to Doha, the airline’s hub in the State of Qatar, flying its signature Boeing 777 long-range aircraft on the route, with convenient onward connections to cities across Europe, Africa, Middle East and both North and South America. 

Effective July 3, Qatar Airways introduces its second Australian gateway with thrice-weekly services linking Doha with Perth. The route will operate daily from December. 

Having launched flights to Baku (Azerbaijan), Tbilisi (Georgia), Kigali (Rwanda), Zagreb (Croatia) and Erbil (Iraq) so far this year, Qatar Airways is gearing up for start-ups to Baghdad (Iraq) on June 7; Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) on July 25, Mombasa (Kenya) on August 15 and Yangon (Myanmar) on October 3 with a date to be announced to the Serbian capital, Belgrade. 

Only 15 years old, Qatar Airways is one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, focused on high service delivery, operating a modern fleet of 109 aircraft to 115 diverse business and leisure destinations around the world.