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BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
24 July, 2005: Qatar Airways has launched its services to New Delhi with its inaugural flight landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday morning, even as it is planning to double its capacity to 5,000 seats per week to the Indian sub-continent.
The first Qatar Airways flight to New Delhi was operated from the airline's operational hub and capital of Qatar, Doha. Qatar Airways operated a non-stop flight from Doha, which also carried a delegation headed by Qatar Airways' senior manager commercial operations (Arabian Peninsula, Iran, South Asia and Myanmar) Ali Al-Rais.
The New Delhi flight, which is to be operated on a daily basis, becomes Qatar Airways' fifth destination in India and marks the first stage of a capacity increase on selected routes to India.
The New Delhi flight is being operated with an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in business and 132 in economy. The carrier would also operate connecting flights to Europe, Middle East and Africa from Doha.
Qatar
Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al-Baker said, "We have long had an ambition to serve New Delhi and we are today celebrating our first flights into this city."
Expansion into India has been made possible following the recent successful round of air service bilateral discussions between the governments of Qatar and India.
Qatar Airways currently operates 19 scheduled flights a week between Doha and Mumbai, Hyderabad, Cochin and Trivandrum.
Earlier this May, Qatar Airways has increased its capacity to India with 11 additional flights a week, taking the number of services to 30 across five Indian cities, including New Delhi.
Qatar Airways also intends to increase its Cochin services, which is at present served by three flights a week, with two additional weekly schedules. The new schedules are slated to be operational from July 18, while a fourth weekly frequency will be added to Hyderabad from July 21.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways was planning to double its capacity to the Indian sub-continent to 5,000 seats per week from the present 2,500 seats. The doubling of capacity is expected to take place soon.
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
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