Japanese Crew Numbers Increased By More Than 50 Per Cent

28 March 2005

Doha, QATAR - In preparation for the launch of Qatar Airways' newest destination of Osaka, the airline has embarked on a recruitment drive to hire additional Japanese cabin crew.

Qatar Airways has boosted the number of Japanese flight attendants by more than 50 per cent to 35 crew with new recruits having recently joined the airline from across Japan.

The new recruits have embarked on an intensive seven-week cabin crew training course at Qatar Airways' head office in Doha, before taking to the skies. The airline has also hired the services of Mrs. Masako Hanzawa, a Japanese cabin crew instructor based in Tokyo, to work with Qatar Airways' crew training department in Doha on educating all flight attendants about Japanese culture and etiquette.

Next month, a team from Qatar Airways' recruitment department will be heading to Osaka and Tokyo for another round of interviews to hire additional Japanese crew.

Osaka officially becomes Qatar Airways' 60th destination on its rapidly-growing global route network on 31 March 2005 with the launch of four flights a week between Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, and Japan's commercial centre.

Osaka is also the first new route of Qatar Airways' summer 2005 flying programme and 11th destination served by the airline in the Far East.

The award-winning airline prides itself on employing male and female crew from around the world with more than 50 different nationalities currently working as flight attendants.

Qatar Airways' cabin crew were recognised as the best in the Middle East for the second year running in 2004 and fifth best in the world following an annual survey of more than two million passengers worldwide.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the company was committed to hiring crew from around the world to ensure the highest levels of service to passengers, whether they travel on business or leisure.

"Japan is one of our most important route launches of 2005 and we are very excited to be soon offering our Five Star service to the people of Japan and both business and leisure passengers from around the world travelling on our global network," he said.

"Our Osaka flights will have Japanese-speaking cabin crew and Japanese cuisine to make the atmosphere onboard feel more like home for many of our passengers.

"Our Japanese crew have fitted well into our multi-cultural airline and we are delighted to be welcoming more trainees from Japan over the next few months."

Qatar Airways currently operates scheduled flights from its Doha hub to 59 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Indian subcontinent and the Far East. By the end of 2005, the airline plans to serve at least 70 destinations, including Athens, Tunis and Algiers.

The Osaka service marks Qatar Airways' first foray into the Japanese market and the route is expected to help meet demand from business and leisure travellers between the Middle East and Japan.

The new route will be operated with the modern Airbus A330-200 in a three-class configuration. The First Class cabin has 12 seats that convert to 180-degree flat beds, Business Class offers 18 seats that recline 160 degrees, while Economy features 208 seats.

The Airbus A330-200 features Qatar Airways' award-winning Audio Video On Demand system, allowing passengers in all three classes to choose from a list of 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.

As part of its launch into the Japanese market, Qatar Airways will be offering members of its Privilege Club frequent flyer programme with double miles for the first full month of the Osaka service.

Privilege Club members travelling on domestic or international services of Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways will be able to accrue Qmiles for later redemption on flights on the Qatar Airways network and partner airlines.

From April 1, 2005, Qatar Airways will place its QR flight code on ANA-operated domestic flights within Japan, between Osaka Kansai and Tokyo Haneda, Fukuoka and Sapporo, to offer its passengers with excellent connections to and from key Japanese cities.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors:
Qatar Airways operates a modern all-Airbus fleet of 39 aircraft, which will double in size over the next few years following a $5.1bn order for 34 additional Airbus jets. The airline is one of the launch customers of the twin-deck A380 'super jumbos' with four aircraft on order, scheduled for delivery from 2009.

Osaka schedules: Qatar Airways flight QR820 leaves Doha International Airport at 2245 hrs on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, arriving at Osaka Kansai International Airport at 1440 hrs local time the following day.

Return flight QR821 leaves Osaka at 2345 hrs on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, arriving in Doha at 0530 hrs local time the following morning.

For further information on Qatar Airways' Privilege Club, web users can log onto www.qmiles.com

For further information:
Salam Al Shawa
Senior Manager Marketing & Communications, Qatar Airways
Tel: +974 - 4496956, Fax: +974 - 4620132

© Press Release 2005