Award-winning airline continues Middle East expansion with flights to Abha beginning September 2, 2015.
DOHA, QATAR – Qatar Airways announces that it will begin flights to Abha, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, beginning September 2. 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 currently operates 82 weekly flights to seven key cities in Saudi Arabia. The airline recently announced an increase in frequency of flights to Gassim with 10 flights a week from 8, 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 flights.
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 and Gassim, Ta’if and Al Hofuf to its portfolio of destinations.
“We have been steadily growing our presence and services to Saudi Arabia,” said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker. “As our eighth destination, Abha will bring additional flexibility for passengers connecting from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. From Abha, passengers will be able to travel seamlessly through our Doha hub to popular cities such as London, Paris, Bangkok, Singapore, New York and Washington, and at the same time this will provide passengers travelling to Saudi Arabia the convenience of another gateway within the same country.”
The Doha – Abha route will be operated by an Airbus A320 with an average travel duration time 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 feature seatback TV screens, providing passengers with the next generation interactive on board 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.
Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 18 years of operation, to the point where today it operates a modern fleet of 158 aircraft to 146 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.
Over the next few months, the network will grow further with new routes to Amsterdam, The Netherlands (June 16, 2015), Zanzibar, Tanzania (July 1, 2015), Sialkot, Pakistan (July 16, 2015), Faisalabad, Pakistan (July 17, 2015), Multan, Pakistan (August 1, 2015), Durban, South Africa (December 17, 2015), Los Angeles, USA (January 1, 2016), Boston, USA (March 16, 2016) and Atlanta, USA (July 1, 2016).
Qatar Airways celebrates 10 years of service to South Africa with a series of media and travel trade events
Airways celebrated 10 years of successful service to Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa last week, where the airline hosted press events and travel trade receptions; inaugurated a new office in Cape Town and held a series of high-level press briefings, revealing details of its enhanced services to South Africa as part of its expanding global operations.
The five-star airline has been successfully serving South Africa from its Doha hub since 2005 and currently operates to Cape Town three times weekly and Johannesburg 10 times weekly.
Starting October 1, 2015, Qatar Airways will add four additional frequencies taking its Cape Town service to a full daily service, and from December 17, 2015, will upgrade its Johannesburg service to a double daily service.
The State of Qatar’s Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Salem Abdulla Al-Jaber (second left), the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Hamad Hareb Alhabsi (middle) and Qatar Airways Country Manager – South Africa, Mr. Jonathan Minnett, at the five-star airline’s 10th anniversary celebrations in Johannesburg.
In addition, on December 17, 2015, the airline will start a four-times weekly service to Durban – with all three routes being serviced by the airline’s state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
“As we begin another decade of flying to beautiful South Africa, we are delighted to further expand frequencies to both Cape Town and Johannesburg, and begin services to Durban,” said Marwan Koleilat, Qatar Airways, Qatar Airways Chief Commercial Officer.
“Our relationship with South Africa has developed and grown consistently since we began back in 2005, and now thanks to an ever-increasing passenger demand from passengers who value our renowned and award-winning five-star service, we look forward to another successful decade of services.”
During the series of events, guests were treated to performances by top local performing artists and entertainers, while the former Miss South Africa and television presenter, Cindy Nell, hosted the Cape Town event as the Master of Ceremony and Jennifer Su, TV and radio presenter, hosted the Johannesburg event.
Local art students showcase their work created in honour of Qatar Airways 10th anniversary celebrations.
The receptions in both cities were attended by a number of dignitaries and members of the travel trade and business community. The State of Qatar’s Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Salem Abdulla Al-Jaber was a guest at the events in both Cape Town and Johannesburg where he was joined by the Ambassadors from the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic Bulgaria, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Lebanon, the Republic of Ecuador and the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, in celebrating the airline’s milestone.
Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which will be operated on all three routes to South Africa offers passengers the very latest inflight experience. Business Class passengers can relax and enjoy an enhanced travel experience with the 80-inch fully flat beds, 17-inch televisions screens, Qatar Airways’ five-star food and beverage service – which is served ‘dine on demand’ – and a beautifully designed cabin which minimises traveller fatigue. Similarly, Economy Class passengers can relax and enjoy the more than 2,000 entertainment options on the 10.6-inch inflight TV entertainment system and relax in one of the most spacious cabins in the sky.
All services from South Africa route through the world’s newest airport hub, and Qatar Airways’ new home, the state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport (HIA). Featuring more than 70 shops and more than 30 restaurants, a 100-room hotel, a spa including swimming pool, squash courts and gymnasium, HIA sets new benchmarks in passenger experience and has already won three Skytrax awards in its first year of operations.
Qatar Airways is one of the world’s fastest growing airlines and has one of the youngest fleets in the sky. Currently serving 146 global destinations with 158 aircraft, the five-star airline has more than 330 aircraft on order valued at more than US$70bn.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
