Qatar Airways to serve sixth China gateway
Qatar Airways today announced plans to launch
scheduled flights to Chengdu – its sixth gateway in the People's Republic of
China - beginning March 19 next year.
“We are confident of buoyant business on the route, appealing to vital traffic flows linking South America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East to an important gateway in China – in fact our sixth gateway of Chengdu.
The
Doha-based airline will operate three-flights-a-week to the capital of Sichuan
Province in Southwest China taking its total weekly frequency across the
country to 41 non-stop services spread across six cities.
Qatar
Airways has built up a solid operation in China over the years, currently
operating 38 flights each week from its Doha hub to Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Chongqing and Hong Kong.
Today’s
news is Qatar Airways’ sixth route announcement so far for 2013. Flights to
Gassim in Saudi Arabia, Najaf in Iraq, Oman’s tourist spot of Salalah,
Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and Chicago – the carrier’s fourth US gateway –
are being launched between January and May with further start-ups planned
during the year.
With
a catchment population of 28 million people, Chengdu is one of the most
important economic, transportation and communication hubs in western China and
deemed among the top 10 cities for investment out of 280 across the country.
Qatar
Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “Chengdu is another key
city in a vibrant economy looking for more air capacity and we are delighted to
announce our operations there from March next year.
“We are confident of buoyant business on the route, appealing to vital traffic flows linking South America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East to an important gateway in China – in fact our sixth gateway of Chengdu.
“China
is a market that is growing in stature and Qatar Airways will continue to tap
into opportunities to expand our presence and provide more choice for our
passengers travelling on business or leisure to or from China.”
"We
look forward to welcoming our sixth new route of 2013 into the Qatar Airways’
family with many more to be announced during the course of the next few weeks
and months,” he added.
Qatar Airways will operate an Airbus A330 in
a two-class configuration of 24 seats in Business and 236 in Economy on the
Doha – Chengdu route.
Source: arabianaerospace
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