Qatar Airways Plans More Routes in India

Monday, 27th May 2013 at 08:53am

With a global network covering all the inhabited continents on earth, you would think Qatar Airways has covered all the major destinations and has reached a cap for its route network expansion.

Not at all. Qatar Airways is still expanding and still on the lookout for more destinations to serve. In India, for example, it already has direct services from Doha to a dozen major cities across the country but it is still exploring possibilities of expanding its Indian operations.

The airline's Chief Executive, Akbar-Al-Baker, was in India recently to attend an important event in which the airline is a major sponsor.

The CEO said that they have already used up all rights allocated to them by the Indian government but they are still hoping that India will open more opportunities for Gulf carriers to serve its huge market. If that happens, he continued, Qatar Airways will grab the opportunity to open more routes out of India to the Middle East.

He cited India's vast population of affluent and educated middle class citizens who are capable to travel overseas for both leisure and business.

He added that its flag carrier still has the capacity to expand and any number of seats offered to them would be a welcome treat. He made it known that they love to serve Indian travelers if opportunities come their way.

In the latest data available, the annual airline passengers in India, estimated to be at 160 million, is only a small fraction of the country's total population of 1.3 billion.

That figure is projected to grow by 300% in the next seven years, so, that by 2020, the annual air passengers in India will reach 450 million.

When sought for his reaction to Etihad's recent deal with Jet Airways, Al Baker said that they don't have similar plans as of the moment.

What his airline is seeking right now is more flying rights to and from India. It is appealing to the Indian government to allow Gulf carriers to serve more destinations in the subcontinent.

Al Baker studied in Oxford University and holds an Economics degree. He assumed his current position in 1997 and has since been in the helm for fifteen years. In addition, he also holds the same position in various divisions of the state-owned airline. He is credited for the Qatar Airways' meteoric rise to become one of the world's fastest growing airline in just a short period.

He also claimed to have studied in India and is proud to tell about the opportunity to study in the country.

The Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), a respected aviation consulting firm, disclosed that Qatar Airways is seeking a total of 150,000 weekly seats from the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India.

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