Implementing its expansion plan in India, Qatar Airways has launched a non-stop flight from Doha to the beach holiday destination of India, Goa. The first flight on the sector arrived at Dabolim International Airport on October 26, 2009. With a delegation of airline officials onboard, led by Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker, who was also joined by a host of international media as the carrier’s guests, Flight QR 224 arrived in Goa on Monday. The carrier is using an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business and 132 seats in Economy, on this route.
With the new flight, Qatar Airways has launched its second route to India within two weeks. This flight will bank on the start of the winter holiday season, with the destination being particularly popular with holidaymakers across Europe, from where Qatar Airways has excellent connecting flights. Akbar Al Baker, CEO Qatar Airways, said that the airline was delighted to extend its reach to the wonderful country of India, with their first flight to Goa. He shared that with huge Goan community living in gulf, their new route would provide connectivity between the two regions and as the holiday season would come nearer, the route would witness a huge influx of tourists, especially European.
Baker added that with the successful launch of their flights to Amritsar earlier this month, he was extremely confident that Goa would be just as successful and consolidate their position in the Indian market, where they now have operations to 10 cities non-stop from their Doha hub. The passengers flying on Qatar Airways, from Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East, have excellent connections to the late evening departures from Doha to Goa. Qatar Airways currently operates 64 flights in a week to 10 cities across India. It has non-stop services from Doha to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, Trivandrum, Cochin and Kozhikode, together with four-flights-a-week to both Amritsar and Goa.
