Qatar Airways to start three weekly flights to Addis

The new service from Doha to Addis Ababa will be operated with an Airbus A320 in a two-class  configuration of 132 seats in Economy and 12 in Business Class.

“Ethiopia is fast emerging as a growing economic center, forming strong trade links with Europe,  the US and Asia Pacific,” Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said.

“As a route, the country has great potential when linked up with key feeder markets in Europe, Americas and other parts of the world. We are pleased to be reinforcing our presence in Africa with the addition of scheduled flights to Addis Ababa, allowing us to further expand our business on the African continent.”

Addis Ababa joins a rapidly growing African network that Qatar Airways serves, amongst 18 other routes in North, East, West, Sub-Saharan and South Africa.

“Ethiopia is known for its thriving industries including coffee production, agricultural commodity exports and livestock production,” Al Baker said. “There is clearly demand and huge potential to and from Ethiopia, one of the many undeserved markets across Africa. As a global  network carrier we are able to fulfill the needs of the traveling public from such markets and for those wanting to travel there from destinations that we serve around the world.”

Passengers can now book tickets through travel agents and Qatar Airways’ website www.qatarairways.com to take advantage of seamless connections to popular destinations including London, Frankfurt, Paris, Montreal, New York, Chicago and Washington via the airline’s Doha hub.

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 16 years of operation, currently flying a modern fleet of 127 aircraft to 128 key business and leisure destinations worldwide.  Qatar Airways has so far launched six destinations this year – Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Najaf (Iraq), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Chicago (US), Salalah (Oman), Basra (Iraq) and  Sulaymaniyah (Iraq).

Over the next few months, the network will expand with the addition of further destinations –  Chengdu, China (September 3), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (September 18), Ta’if, Saudi Arabia  (October 2), Clark International Airport, Philippines (October 27) and Philadelphia, US (April 2 , 2014).

Source: TheReporterEthiopia.com