Qatar Airways’ Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, announced the extension of the A350 XWB service throughout 2015, during the airline’s press conference, the first to take place on the opening day of the world’s largest tourism fair, ITB Berlin.
The press conference, attended by more than 100 international media, also celebrated Qatar Airways’ strong connections with Germany and highlighted the 10-year anniversary of the airline’s first flight to Berlin in 2005 with an A319 aircraft, a route now operated with an A330 wide-body aircraft.
Further expansion was also announced with the new routes of Durban, via Johannesburg in South Africa, which will debut this December, alongside the inaugural flight to Amsterdam, which takes place this June. Pakistan was also cited as a key growth market for the airline, with three new routes launching this summer to Faisalabad, Sialkot and Multan, complementing the airline’s four existing gateways of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar.
Group Chief Executive of Qatar Airways, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, commented: “The last 12 months have been characterised by significant fleet expansion for the airline, which is set to continue throughout 2015. This year we are pleased to be able to offer our passengers additional innovative new products within our broad destination network, most notably with the introduction of the world’s newest aircraft, the A350 XWB.
“It is fitting that we are back in Germany today, celebrating not only the recent launch of the A350 XWB on the Frankfurt route and the fact that this destination will soon be the recipient of the world’s second A350 XWB, but also acknowledging the 10-year anniversary of our Berlin route.”
Qatar Airways maintains a strong annual presence at ITB Berlin, highlighting its unique Five-Star offering and uses the show as a platform at which to update the travel industry on its latest products and initiatives. This year, not only is the airline celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its route to Berlin, but also the newly inaugurated A350 XWB’s first commercial route, for which the airline chose another of its German destinations, Frankfurt.