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BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
1 July, 2005: Qatar Airways New Delhi flights will be a reality soon. On the cards are an expansion of the Qatar Airways services to India, which now include flights to Mumbai, Kochi (Cochin) and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) Hyderabad. The Qatar Airways move comes soon after the successful conclusion of the bilateral aviaton discusions between India and Qatar. Qatar Airways New Delhi flights start from July 14, 2005. There will be 7 flights a week from Doha to New delhi.
Currently, there are 19 scheduled Qatar Airways flights from Doha to India, to four Indian destinations - Cochin, Trivandrum, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Another 11 flights per week are on cards, taking the total number of flights to 30 to the five Indian destinations.
The bilateral agreements allow Qatar Airways to nearly double the number of plane seats per week which it can offer between Qatar and India.
Qatar Airways willl be flying an Airbus 320 between the two cities. It will be in two-class layou of 12 seats in business and 132 in economy. Qatra Airways claims that the Doha-Delhi flight route will offer excellent connections over Doha to and from European and Middle East cities served by Qatar Airways.
Later, the New Delhi flight will be upgraded to a widebody A330 in a 3-class layout of First Class, Business and Economy, with "interactive audio video on demand inflight entertainment system" and premium cabin seats which can turn into flat beds.
Besides the New Delhi flights, there are more flight capacity additions to India. As of now, there is are 6 Qatar Airways flights per week from Mumbai to Doha, which wll be increased to 7 per week from July 15.
Cochin, which has 3 flights per week, will be boosted with two additional weekly departures, on Mondays and Wednesdays from Doha, beginning on July 18. Three days later, on July 21, a fourth weekly frequency will be added to the Hyderabad schedules with the launch of an early morning Thursday flight.
Akbar Al Baker, Qatar
Airways Chief Executive Officer is delighted: “Delhi has been on our radar screens for many years and I am extremely pleased to say we are now finally able to launch scheduled flights to India's political capital. I would like to thank the Indian and Qatari authorities for working so diligently to make this route happen. India has been enjoying an economic boom with capacity for air seats unable to meet the high demand," he said.
“Our New Delhi flights and additional capacity going into Mumbai, Hyderabad and Cochin will help meet the demand, particularly during the summer rush and also help grow our overall business and leisure traffic to India.”
Qatar Airways will further raise capacity to India to fulfill its permitted quota of services as new planes are added to the fleet, says its CEO.
Qatar Airways currently operates scheduled flights from Doha to 65 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Indian subcontinent and the Far East. The airline will add the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to its growing list of destinations from November 15.
Qatar Airways owns a modern fleet of 40 all-Airbus aircraft, which it is planning to double within a few years. Earlier this month, Qatar Airways plans at the Paris Air Show to buy up to 80 planes, comprising 60 of the new generation A350s and 20 Boeing 777s worth a total US$15.2 billion. The airline is one of the first customers of the superjumbo Airbus A380s
QATAR AIRWAYS
Doha – New Delhi flight schedules:
Depart Doha International Airport:
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Tuesdays and Saturdays:
QR230 at 0830, arrive New Delhi at 1445
Tue, Wed, Thur, Sat, Sun:
QR232 at 2145, arrive New Delhi at 0400
Depart Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi
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Tuesdays and Saturdays:
QR231 at 2145, arrive Doha at 2315
Mon, Wed, Thur, Fri, Sun:
QR233 at 0930, arrive Doha at 1100
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
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