Financial Times

Qatar Airlines increases flights, raises services
For an airline that hasn’t been around that long, Qatar Airways is thinking big and getting bigger. At a press conference last week at the Hilton Hotel it was announced that the number of flights between Colombo and Doha — the airline’s hub — and from there to other worldwide destinations has increased.
There are to be two direct flights a day between Colombo and Doha, meaning no more stopovers at Male, Maldives.

“The reason for the move is that with the continuing stability in the country, there has been an increase in the number of incoming tourists, especially from Europe,” said Aki Al Rais, Senior Manager, Commercial Operations East.

He said that presently the airline was carrying around 85,000 outbound passengers and 125,000 inbound per year, at a yearly growth of between 12 to 15 percent.

Due to the expansion, the number of weekly flights to cities such as Paris, Madrid, Rome Athens and Bangkok have all increased; for London Heathrow, the number of daily flights rises from two to three. Hong Kong became the airline’s 70th city it flies to as of March 26. The long-haul flights will be on the company’s flagship, the Airbus A330.

“From an airline that flew four ageing Boeing 747s in 1997, the fleet now numbers 44 modern aircraft, all Airbus, with 10 more expected before the end of 2007,” Mr Al Rais said. The airline was also one of the first companies to sign up for the double-decker Airbus A380, due to be delivered in 2008.
The delivery of the super-size plane is expected to coincide with the new Doha Airport, whose phase one is expected to be completed in 2009. The airport has been designed to handle the A380, as well as up to 12 million passengers a year. When the final phase is completed, expected in 2015, at a cost of $5.5 billion, the airport will be able to handle 50 million passengers via 80 contact gates.

Qatar Airline is also revamping its in-flight services and entertainment, with its premier service beginning later this year, where a choice of up to 40 movies will be on offer, plus the ability to individually tailor music needs via 250 CDs.
“In today’s age of travel, customers are becoming more experienced and more demanding looking for more choice and the highest level of service,” Mr. Al Rais said.

“Many airlines tend to lose focus with growth. At Qatar we are committed to maintaining and increasing our service levels,” he continued. As Qatar is hosting the 15th Asian Games later this year, three different colour schemes are to be seen on a variety of the planes depicting different medal sports.

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