Qatar Airways planning new destinations in India

"We are planning to operate in two new destinations in India. India is a great country and has strong cultural, political and economic relation with my country," Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker told PTI here.

Already covering 11 cities in India, the airline is mulling on spreading its wings further. Not specifying which all countries are in the pipeline, Baker said, "Its important for Qatar to look at India. We have many plans in India, which I will not disclose as I love giving surprises."

With no immediate plans to expand the capacity of the aircrafts used by the airlines in India, he said, "As of now we are not planning to increase the capacity of the aircrafts. We haven't yet maximised the capacity."

Qatar Airways currently spreads across 11 Indian cities – in addition to Bengaluru, daily flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Cochin, Trivandrum, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad and Goa, with four services-a-week to Amritsar.

He said there are many air traffic rights under the bilateral air service agreement between India and Qatar, which the airline hasn't utilised. "We expand in a planned way. We will not dump any rights or the capacity just for the sake of it. We still have room to expand," he said.

Speaking about the under construction airport...New Doha International Airport, he said, "It is the most efficient and most user friendly airport. The airport will be complete by 2012."

The national airline for the state of Qatar spans its network to six continents, with a fleet of 94 aircrafts. Addressing a press conference here, a day after the launch of the inaugural flight from Doha to Brussels, Baker said, "Till 2020, almost two-thirds of our fleet will be replaced by A 350s."

About the order of A380s by the airline, Baker said, "We have high load factors. We were supposed to receive the orders of A380s by 2009. We have, however delayed it because of the NDIA work going on."

The Brussels Doha route launch established Qatar Airways' 98th international destination and marked the Gulf carrier's third new Europena route. It has been operating flights to both Bucharest and Budapest from its Doha hub in January.

Meanwhile, spreading its wings further into Europe, Qatar Airways has begun its inaugural service to Brussels, with the Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme terming the launch as a step towards increasing the cultural closeness of Qatar and his country.

The inaugural flight, QR941, which arrived at Brussels International Airport from Doha, has strengthened the Airways' network in Europe, taking the total number of destinations covered by the airlines to 24. Brussels is now the carrier's 98th network point.

"This launch has opened up the economic opportunities for both Qatar and Belgium. This will strengthen the bilateral relations between the countries and increase the cultural closesness of its people," Leterme said.

Brussels became the third European destination launched by the airline this month following Hungarian capital Budapest and Romania's capital city Bucharest.

CEO Qatar Airways Al Baker said, "The new direct airline represents a historic moment for the two countries. We have now established our presence in Brussels, which is the gateway to the rest of Europe."

The Brussels Doha route is served with an Airbus A330, with up to 30 Business Class seats and 275 Economy class seats. Among others present at the ceremony and the inaugural flight were the Belgium's Ambassador to Qatar H E Luc Devolder and other Ministers from the country.

Qatar Airways had on January 16 announced capacity increase to an array of destinations across its global network, to be phased in from March.