QATAR AIRWAYS NOW SERVES 65 GLOBAL DESTINATIONS AGAIN
(Posted 16th July 2020)
Qatar Airways, during the lockdown periods across the globe in order to prevent the spread of the #COVID19 virus, continued to operate both cargo and repatriation flights, uplifting over 2 million passengers and becoming the world’s leading airline in terms of destinations and passengers flown.
As more and more countries are now lifting their air space closures for scheduled passenger services, has the airline stepped up the relaunch of routes, in East Africa for instance already flying to Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar in the United Republic of Tanzania.
The airline’s Group CEO Mr. Akbar Al Baker has now again written to the airline’s customers worldwide as had this to say:
| It has been a few weeks since my last email and I wanted to personally update you on the additional measures we have taken to ensure that you can rely on us when you are ready to travel again. As one of the most experienced airlines, Qatar Airways has flown more passengers around the world than any other airline throughout the crisis. Our first priority was to take many of you home, and we are grateful for the trust you placed in us to reunite you with your family and loved ones.
We have remained dedicated to this fundamental mission of taking you home as we continue to repatriate stranded passengers around the world. We are now also providing safe and reliable travel options for those returning to their place of work, school or visiting friends and family. As entry restrictions around the world begin to ease, I know many of you are looking forward to making travel plans once again. To ensure you can travel with peace of mind, we have introduced additional safety measures and booking policies. Wherever you want to go, whoever you want to see, whatever your business, for your first flight into this new world, I want you to know you can travel safely with Qatar Airways. Peace of mind throughout your journey The health and safety of our passengers and crew has been our highest priority throughout this crisis. Our continuous operations have enabled us to gain unrivalled experience in providing a healthy and safe travel experience for our passengers. In addition to the hygiene measures already in place, we have further enhanced our onboard safety measures with several updates since my last email, including:
More choices so you can travel when you’re ready We know in the current climate it can be difficult to plan travel with absolute certainty. That is why we have generously extended our booking policies to offer you even more choices. We want to ensure that when you are ready to fly, you can plan your travel with peace of mind as we understand that you may need to change your plans. Our extended policy allows you to make unlimited date changes, and to change your destination as often as you need if it is within 5,000 miles of the original one. We will not charge any fare differences for travel completed before 31 December 2020, after which fare rules will apply. All tickets booked for travel up to 31 December 2020 will be valid for two years from the date of issuance. Privilege Club members can also swap their ticket for Qmiles to redeem on reward flights, extra baggage or cabin upgrades when the time is right. For every 1 USD, members will earn 100 Qmiles that are valid for at least three years, providing the flexibility to choose how, when and for whom to redeem them. Honouring the loyalty of our members Due to global travel restrictions, our loyal Privilege Club members received an additional membership year of tier status. Gold and Platinum members also now benefit from a two-year validity on their Qcredits. We recently extended our Qmiles validity until March 2021, for those who had Qmiles due to expire in June 2020 and, as we know many of our members are looking forward to taking to the skies again soon, made it easier for them to get back on board by removing award flight fees. Tickets can be booked seamlessly on qmiles.com or via the mobile app fee-free. We continue to redefine Privilege Club for our loyal members, as they will soon be able to redeem Qmiles for an award ticket quicker than ever before. We will also be updating our Qmiles expiry policy, giving members the opportunity to extend their Qmiles validity when they earn or spend Qmiles. Flights to more global destinations than any other airline We are excited to lead the recovery of global travel. While other airlines grounded their flights during this crisis, our network has never fallen below 30 destinations. On July 1, we relaunched 11 destinations including Bali, Denpasar, Beirut, Belgrade, Berlin, Boston, Edinburgh, Larnaca, Los Angeles, Prague, Washington DC, and Zagreb. This marked the largest number of route resumptions in a single day since Qatar Airways started to rebuild its network. We are currently operating to over 65 destinations worldwide, with more than 430 weekly fights. Find out where we are flying to in July. We know many of you are eager to take advantage of our generous booking policy and would like to take to the skies soon. Our travel alerts page is updated daily with the latest entry and travel requirements, making it easier for you to plan your trip. By remaining focused on our core mission of being the airline you can rely on throughout this crisis, we have become the largest international carrier in the world. I would like to thank you again for your trust and continued support. I wish you good health and look forward to welcoming you back on board when you are ready to fly with us again. Yours sincerely, |
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| Akbar Al Baker Group Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways Group |
