(Posted 07th March 2023)
Qatar Airways drew major attention on the opening day of ITB Berlin 2023, the world’s largest international travel and tourism trade show, as the World’s Best Airline’s Group Chief Executive, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, unveiled new destinations, and announced flight resumptions and frequency increases during a press conference held on the first day of the exhibition.
Highlighting the success of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, Qatar Airways revealed its new sports sponsorship portfolio as well as a multitude of other projects and partnerships lined up for the year 2023, continuing on the path of bringing people together all while boosting the tourism industry in the State of Qatar. The press conference was also attended by His Excellency, Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, Ambassador for the State of Qatar to Germany.
At the press conference, Mr. Al Baker announced over seven new destinations planned for launch in 2023, including Chittagong, Juba, Kinshasa, Lyon, Medan, Toulouse, and Trabzon. Qatar Airways is also resuming flights to 11 destinations: Beijing, Birmingham, Buenos Aires, Casablanca, Davao, Marrakesh, Nice, Osaka, Phnom Penh, Ras Al-Khaimah, and Tokyo Haneda. Multiple destinations also saw frequency increases scheduled for the year 2023.*
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is dedicated to enrich the global community which it serves. As the World’s Best Airline, we are excited to offer more ways of bringing the world together, increasing connectivity and bridging gaps within the travel industry. As we expand our fleet, network, partnerships and international presence we look forward to working together to deliver sustainable growth and a compelling future for the industry. We continue to look forward to our bright future here in Qatar, with multiple projects lined up for 2023 and beyond, such as the Formula 1 partnership and much more. Qatar will continue to be a global hub of connectivity and an ideal destination for tourism, long after the great success of the historic FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.”
The world-leading travel trade show, ITB Berlin, which is a central communication and marketing annual event, showcases a range of travel exhibitors from over 180 countries and five continents, providing over 160,000 visitors with information on new products, services and facilities in the tourism industry.
Qatar Airways welcomes all guests to ITB Berlin to visit its exhibition pavilion Hall 2.2, stand 208, 208A from 7-9 March 2023. During the three-day show, the Qatar Airways booth offers a thrilling Formula 1® sports car simulator experience, showcasing the airline’s most recent sponsorship announcement. FC Bayern Munich legend Claudio Pizarro is also making a special appearance at the stand.
Representing Qatar Airways’ innovative technological adoptions, the booth is also equipped with Qatar Airways’ virtual reality experiences, ‘QVerse’, and a tour of the newly expanded Hamad International Airport terminal, The ORCHARD.
*The following destinations are slated to receive an increase in flight frequency:
· Abuja – Port Harcourt – increased from two weekly flights to three
· Abuja – Kano – increased from three weekly flights to four
· Athens – increased from seven weekly flights to 14
· Belgrade – increased from five weekly flights to seven
· Berlin – increased from 11 weekly flights to 14
· Bucharest – increased from 10 weekly flights to 14
· Cairo – increased from 21 weekly flights to 28
· Copenhagen – increased from four weekly flights to seven, and 10 from winter season 2023/24
-Finnair also operates 7 weekly flights, totalling 17 weekly in Copenhagen
· Denpasar – increased from 14 weekly flights to 21
· Dublin – increased from 12 weekly flights to 14
· Düsseldorf – increased from seven weekly flights to 11 for winter season 2023/24
· Edinburgh– increased from 10 weekly flights to 14
· Hanoi – increased from 10 weekly flights to 12
· Hong Kong – increased from 11 weekly flights to 14
· Khartoum – increased from seven weekly flights to 14
· Larnaca – increased from seven weekly flights to 14
· London Gatwick – increased from seven weekly flights to 10 (14 weekly flights for peak summer season)
· London Heathrow – increased from 42 weekly flights to 45
· Madrid – increased from 16 weekly flights to 18
· Manila – increased from 17 weekly flights to 18
· Milan – increased from 16 weekly flights to 21
· Mogadishu – increased from three weekly flights to four
· Nagpur – increased from four weekly flights to seven
· Oslo – increased from seven weekly flights to 12 for winter season 2023/24
· Phuket – increased from 14 weekly flights to 21 for winter season 2023/24
· Saigon – increased from 10 weekly flights to 12
· Sarajevo – increased from three weekly flights to four for summer season 2023
· Sofia – increased from three weekly flights to four weekly flights in summer and five weekly flights in winter season 2023/24
· Stockholm – increased from three weekly flights to five for winter season 2023/24
– Finnair also operates 7 weekly flights, totalling 12 weekly in Stockholm
· Taif – increased from three weekly flights to seven
· Vienna – increased from 10 weekly flights to 14
· Warsaw – increased from seven weekly flights to 14 from winter season 2023/24
· Yerevan – increased from seven weekly flights to 10
· Zagreb – increased from four weekly flights to seven
· Zurich – increased from 10 weekly flights to 14
A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was announced as the ‘Airline of the Year’ at the 2022 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organization, Skytrax. It was also named ‘World’s Best Business Class’, ‘World’s Best Business Class Airline Lounge’, ‘World’s Best Business Class Airline Seat’, ‘World’s Best Business Class Onboard Catering’ and ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’. The airline continues to stand alone at the top of the industry having won the main prize for an unprecedented seventh time (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022).
Qatar Airways currently flies to more than 150 destinations worldwide, connecting through its Doha hub, Hamad International Airport, voted by Skytrax as the ‘World’s Best Airport’ 2022.
