Qatar Airways has announced an increase in the frequency of weekly flights to 10 destinations in the Middle East and Europe.
The airline, which currently flies to 146 destinations around the globe, will implement the frequency increases over the next few months for a mix of business and leisure destinations.
The move comes in response to a continuous rise in passenger demand, the airline said in a statement yesterday.
From May 16, Qatar Airways will permanently increase weekly frequencies to seven destinations - Ta’if (Saudi Arabia), Basra (Iraq), Najaf (Iraq), Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Ankara (Turkey), Zagreb (Croatia) and Athens (Greece).
The airline will also increase the weekly frequency of flights to an additional three destinations during the peak summer period to meet the increase in demand over the holiday season, the statement adds. These are Alexandria (Egypt), Salalah (Oman) and Larnaca (Cyprus). These additional flights will be seasonal only and the routes will revert to their regular schedules from September 15, October 4 and October 24, respectively.
The permanent frequency increases will see Ta’if, Zagreb and Ankara begin daily flight services from May 16, July 1 and July 3, respectively. The service to the two Iraqi destinations will double from four to eight flights per week with Basra beginning on May 16 and Najaf on June 2, while 10 flights per week will be offered to Gassim from July 17.
The most significant increase in frequency is the launch of an additional daily service on June 1 to Athens, taking the number of weekly flights to the popular holiday destination from 14 to 21 per week, the statement points out.
Service to Alexandria will increase to 14 flights a week from June 1 to September 15, flights to Larnaca will increase to a daily service from June 3 to October 24 and service to Salalah will increase to 13 flights per week from July 13 to October 4.
Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar al-Baker said: “Qatar Airways is committed to developing access to a number of destinations within our network, which are popular with both our business and leisure travellers. Our most current frequency increases in the Middle East and Europe will provide our passengers with more flexibility and choice when it comes to planning their travel for both themselves and their families. We are pleased that so many travellers choose to fly with Qatar Airways, which is why we continue to expand the range of our five-star service and products.”
