Qatar Airways: spreading its wings
Qatar Airways will begin flights to Abha in Saudi Arabia from September 2, the national carrier announced on Monday. The non-stop service from Doha will operate four times a week.
The city of Abha is the capital of Asir, a south-western province in the kingdom and is gaining popularity in the region as a tourist destination due to attractions such as its mild seasonal weather and fertile mountains.
Qatar Airways operates 82 weekly flights to seven key cities in Saudi Arabia. The airline recently announced an increase in frequency to Gassim with 10 flights a week from eight, beginning July 17.
The addition of Abha will increase the number of Qatar Airways’ weekly flights to Saudi Arabia from 84 to 88 non-stop services.
Qatar Airways has been continuously expanding its services to Saudi Arabia since it began in 1997 with non-stop flights to Jeddah. Since then the airline has added Riyadh, Dammam, Madinah, Gassim, Ta’if and Al Hofuf to its portfolio of destinations.
The Doha-Abha route will be operated by an Airbus A320 with an average travel duration of just over two hours. The aircraft will feature 144 seats in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in business class and 132 seats in economy.
Selected aircraft will have seatback TV screens, providing passengers with the next generation interactive onboard entertainment system, featuring a choice of more than 900 audio and video on-demand options, together with an SMS text messaging service from each seat.
Over the next few months, the network will grow further with new routes to Amsterdam, the Netherlands (June 16), Zanzibar, Tanzania (July 1), Sialkot, Pakistan (July 16), Faisalabad, Pakistan (July 17), Multan, Pakistan (August 1), Durban, South Africa (December 17), Los Angeles, USA (January 1, 2016), Boston, USA (March 16, 2016) and Atlanta, USA (July 1, 2016).
The airline meanwhile celebrated 10 years of service to Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa last week, where it hosted press events and travel trade receptions and inaugurated a new office in Cape Town.
The carrier has been successfully serving South Africa since 2005 and currently operates to Cape Town three times weekly and Johannesburg 10 times weekly.
Starting October 1, Qatar Airways will add four additional frequencies taking its Cape Town service to a full daily service, and from December 17 will upgrade its Johannesburg service to a double daily service.
