Qatar Airways plans to almost triple its fleet size by 2015, Akbar Al Baker, CEO, said in Singapore last week. He was addressing the media to mark the carrier's launch of daily non-stop flights to the island state, according to a statement issued in Dubai.
Al Baker spoke of Qatar Airways' meteoric growth since its relaunch in 1997.
Only last month the airline, which operates an all-Airbus fleet of 40 aircraft, announced plans at the Paris Air Show to acquire up to 80 planes, comprising 60 of the new generation A350s and 20 Boeing 777s worth $15.2 billion.
As part of the growth strategy, Al Baker said the airline was introducing new destinations and increasing frequency on existing routes.
The Singapore route, he said, had just been upgraded from an Airbus A300 aircraft to the larger A330-200. The route is being operated non-stop on all daily flights, cutting out the indirect service via Kuala Lumpur to provide faster flying time.
The A330 is the backbone of the carrier's long-haul fleet to destinations as far as Europe, South Africa and the Far East. Al Baker said Singapore had been a highly successful route for the airline since the service was launched in November 2003.
Singapore is one of 11 Far East destinations served by Qatar Airways from its operational hub in Doha. The Far East represents 18 per cent of the airline's global network.
The airline's Far East services currently cover Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Osaka, Seoul, Manila, Cebu, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Yangon and Jakarta.
Gulf News
