Qatar Airways will begin weekly commercial flights to the southern Iraqi city of Basra from August 30, following approval from coalition authorities in Iraq.
"At present, coalition authorities have given Qatar Airways the approval to fly to Basra, once a week, on Saturdays. We are keen to introduce additional flights as soon as possible,” said Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Akbar Al-Baker.
Qatar Airways has launched an aggressive growth plan, which includes the extension of its route network to 50 destinations by the end of 2003. It recently added Manchester, Rome and Moscow to its list of destinations and will soon add Shanghai, Seoul and Tripoli.
Qatar Airways is also expanding its fleet. The airline has just announced a $5.1 billion deal to purchase 32 additional Airbus aircraft in a deal that will increase the fleet to 52 by 2008. It presently operates a fleet of 25 Airbus aircraft. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
