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Qatar Airways considers another Australian city

Qatar Airways is considering its expansion options in Australia mere hours after launching direct daily services between Sydney and Doha.

Qatar Airways is considering its expansion options in Australia mere hours after launching direct daily services between Sydney and Doha.

 

Airline CEO, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, revealed to media at a press conference today that he’s looking at flying to another local city – which would be the carrier’s fifth since launching to Australia in 2009.

Currently the Doha-based airline operates to Melbourne, Perth and now Sydney plus there’s existing plans to launch to and from Adelaide in May. This leaves Brisbane and Darwin as potential candidates for the carrier’s fifth route to the mainland (or maybe it’ll be the second international carrier to fly out of Canberra).

Qatar Airways 2

Sydney Airport CEO, Kerrie Mather with Qatar Airways’ Akbar Al Baker, Marwan Koleilat and Adam Radwanski.

“We hope to add another destination in Australia. I will let my competition guess where it will be.”

Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways CEO

We’ll just have to wait and see where the maroon and white planes fly next.

Meanwhile, the CEO accredited Sydney Airport’s boss Kerrie Mather for the carrier’s launch in Sydney today, saying she took the lead role in removing restrictions that prevented Qatar from operating to the city sooner.

He described Sydney as “one of the most important” in the carrier’s network, particularly because flights filled up within months of releasing fares, indicating strong demand for travel to or via Doha.

Qatar Sydney

“It’s been long awaited.”

Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways CEO

Qatar is currently operating the Boeing 777-3oo on services between Sydney and Doha, offering travellers 42 seats in Business Class and 293 seats in Economy.

Business is in a 2-2-2 configuration and features five star service, fine dining on demand as well as fully-flat beds with 78 inches of seat pitch.

Qatar Airways 5

Economy passengers are in a 3-3-3 configuration and their seats have a pitch of up to 34 inches.

Both classes have access to around 3,000 entertainment options plus the carrier’s award-winning service.

Expecting further demand during the busier peak, the carrier will replace the Boeing 777-300 from June with the jumbo A380. This will add an extra 180 seats in both directions.

Which Australian city should Qatar fly to next?