Qatar Airways is gearing up for yet another year of massive expansion with the announcement of launch dates for new routes in Africa, Europe and Australia.
The African expansion drive is set to continue with scheduled services starting to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on March 21. Zagreb will boost the airline’s European portfolio further with the launch of flights to the Croatian capital from May 9. Beginning July 3, the airline adds Perth as its second route in Australia.
Ahead of the newly announced launch dates, Qatar Airways is busy preparing for its 2012 route expansion programme which starts on February 1 with new services to the south-eastern European cities of Baku and Tbilisi (Azerbaijan and Georgia, respectively). Plans are also underway for flights to Zanzibar (Tanzania), Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Mombasa (Kenya) and Helsinki (Finland).
Last year, Qatar Airways’ expansion focused on Europe with the introduction of seven new routes – Bucharest, Budapest, Brussels, Stuttgart, Venice, Sofia and Oslo, taking its European capacity to 27 destinations.
The addition of Baku, Tbilisi and Zagreb is a significant move for the airline, probing under served markets that have limited capacity. All three routes will provide excellent connections to diverse destinations across the airline’s rapidly-growing international network.
Kigali, rich in mining and a key African business centre, becomes the latest stop on the airline’s 16-strong African network that last year saw two destinations added – Entebbe and Benghazi. Operating via Entebbe, the daily Kigali flights provide excellent connections over Qatar Airways’ Doha hub to cities across the Middle East, Europe and Far East.
Flights to both Kigali and Zagreb will be operated with an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration –12 seats in business class and 132 seats in economy.
The Perth route will be operated with the long-range version of the airline’s flagship B777 aircraft featuring 259 seats, configured in two-classes – 42 seats in business class that convert into fully horizontal flat beds, and 217 seats in economy class.
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