Qatar Airways Bangkok flights go double daily

Frequency Increases From 10 Flights A Week To 14 Services

BY A CORRESPONDENT
June 24, 2006

Bangkok, THAILAND – Qatar Airways today announced frequency on its highly popular Bangkok route will increase to double daily to meet growing demand from both business and leisure travellers.

Beginning June 25th, the award-winning airline will offer passengers a wider choice of scheduled flights with morning and evening departures between Doha and Bangkok, the capitals of the State of Qatar and Thailand respectively.

The capacity hike from the current 10 services a week is taking place during one of the busiest travel periods to and from Asia. And with Doha hosting the 15th Asian Games at the end of the year, Qatar Airways’ increased presence in the Thai market will help promote the region’s biggest sporting event, of which the airline is Official Partner.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the additional flights reinforced the airline’s commitment to operate routes with increased frequency, particularly during the peak summer travel months.

“We are delighted to be able to provide our passengers with greater choice of flight options to and from Bangkok,” he said.

“With morning and evening departures every day, we are offering passengers with greater flexibility in their travel plans. Our flights will also offer excellent connections to and from Europe, the GCC markets and rest of the Middle East over our hub in Doha.”

Addressing a press conference in Bangkok today, Qatar Airways Senior Manager Commercial Operations Far East and Australasia, Markwan Koleilat, said: “The Asia Pacific region is one of Qatar Airways’ strongest growth areas and we are eyeing new opportunities in this very exciting part of the world.

“Bangkok is one of 12 destinations we serve in the Far East – that represents more than 15% of our total international network. Thailand, in particular, is strategically well located within the region as a hub for business from neighbouring countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

“As the international gateway for many cities in the south-east region, we look at Bangkok as a pivotal point to feed traffic, which we hope to develop further with even more flights over the months and years to come.

“Our Bangkok flights already appeal to a large expatriate community, as well as Thais travelling on leisure to Europe, Africa and many destinations across the Middle East.”

The expansion in Thailand comes just weeks after Qatar Airways opened a second ticketing office in Bangkok to facilitate the needs of travellers.

Qatar Airways Area Manager Thailand and Cambodia, Rohan Seneviratne, added: “In addition to increasing our service offering in Bangkok, our new branch office in the downtown area is also representative of our rapid global growth.

“We are currently one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, averaging almost 40 percent growth year on year which is a fantastic figure that many airlines watch with envy.”

Qatar Airways operates the modern Airbus A330-200 in a two-class configuration on the Bangkok route. The Business cabin has up to 24 seats that recline 160 degrees, while Economy features a maximum 259 seats.

The A330s feature the airline’s award-winning Audio Video On Demand interactive entertainment system, allowing passengers in both classes to choose from more than 40 international movies, as well as short programmes to view on their individual TV screens.

Passengers can also listen to an extensive list of 250 CDs and 16 audio channels. In addition, there is a choice of 12 video games to play through the interactive TV screens.

Qatar Airways operates a modern fleet of 47 all-Airbus aircraft to 70 destinations from its hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar. Together with its codeshare partners, Qatar Airways serves more than 90 cities worldwide.

The airline’s fleet will more than double in size by 2015 to 110 aircraft. Qatar Airways plans to acquire up to 80 new aircraft in orders worth US$16billion.

Qatar Airways is one of only four airlines in the world with a Five Star ranking for service and excellence awarded by Skytrax, the independent aviation industry monitoring agency. Skytrax has also increased Qatar Airways’ global ranking to sixth best airline in the world this year, and named the carrier’s cabin crew as Best in the Middle East for the fourth year running in 2006 and second best in the world.