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Qatar Airways hails successful Copenhagen launch

Direct News Source

27-May-2010 Qatar Airways has spelled out its continued commitment to Scandinavia, helping strengthen commercial and economic ties thanks to its new flights to Copenhagen.

The Danish capital is Qatar Airways' second destination in Northern Europe to where the airline also operates daily flights to Stockholm in neighbouring Sweden.

Since the March 30 launch of four non-stop flights-a-week between the airline's operational hub of Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, and Copenhagen, Qatar Airways reports the new service proving to be one of its most successful start-up routes of the year.

The launch coincided with the upgrade of capacity on the Doha - Stockholm route following high demand in and out of the region and has further strengthened Qatar Airways' position as the only Gulf carrier currently flying to Scandinavia.

Addressing international media at a press conference in Copenhagen, Qatar Airways Vice-President Commercial Europe, Paul Johannes said: "With the addition of Copenhagen to our European network, we have significantly widened our reach in Scandinavia, receiving a great response not just from the Danish travelling public, but also from passengers from southern Sweden, Norway and Finland."

In view of the route's positive performance, Paul Johannes expressed interest in increasing capacity to Denmark, further reinforcing its commitment to Northern Europe.

"For business and leisure travellers from Denmark and the surrounding Nordic countries to the Middle East and beyond, Qatar Airways offers great connections via Doha to an exciting range of business and leisure destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and South Asia.

"The Copenhagen route is just a few weeks old, and yet we are already planning to increase capacity to daily using a widebody aircraft by the end of the year which will give our passengers even greater travel options."

With 11 flights a week now operating out of Scandinavia, Qatar Airways offers one of the fastest journey times via Doha to the Middle East, to 11 destinations in India and many destinations across Asia Pacific, including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Osaka, Singapore, Maldives and Melbourne.

"We are constantly looking at ways to offer our passengers improved levels of service, more choice and more connections across our global network," he said.

"Europe is one of our most important regions representing around 20 per cent of our global coverage. With almost 40 per cent increase in frequency across four European capital cities from the start of the winter flying season last October, Qatar Airways is opening up greater opportunities to travel on business or leisure.

"We pride ourselves as the only Gulf carrier flying to Northern Europe, establishing ourselves as offering an excellent alternative gateway to Scandinavia for travellers from the Middle East, Africa and Asia."

Added Johannes: "Our expansion in Scandinavia is fuelled by high economic activity between the State of Qatar and the Nordic countries, and we are delighted to offer, in particular, our corporate travellers even more choice and convenience flying our award-winning Five Star service when they do business in Qatar or the Middle East."

Trade between the two countries concentrates on the export of mainly industrial machinery from Denmark to Qatar, while petrochemicals form the main exports from Qatar.

Many large Danish companies such as Maersk and Cowi are operating in Qatar, with the Danish community in Doha growing substantially to almost 1,000 in 2010.

Qatar Airways' renowned service has received numerous international accolades for its high standards and great hospitality. Just last week, Qatar Airways was named among the top three airlines in the world out of 200 global carriers at the latest Skytrax World Airline Awards held in Hamburg to further cement the airline's stature as a world renowned Five Star ranked airline.

Qatar Airways also claimed the World's Best Business Class award in one of the most hotly contested categories. The airline's Business Class catering was recognised separately as the best in the world.

The Doha-based carrier earned the title Best Airline in the Middle East title for a fifth consecutive year, emphasising Qatar Airways' dominance in a region boasting several world-class airlines.

Qatar Airways also became the first airline to receive the Staff Service Excellence Award for the Middle East. The new award replaces the Best Cabin Crew in the Middle East category, which Qatar Airways has won for the past seven years. The expanded category now includes airline staff at all passenger touch points including onboard, reservations, check-in and airport personnel.

Passengers flying First Class or Business Class through Doha onto connecting cities with Qatar Airways will be able to transit through the airline's exclusive Premium Teminal, where they can unwind and relax enjoying creature comforts of the facilites, including fine dining, spa treatments and duty free shopping.

Copenhagen, home to around 3,000 internationally-owned companies of which 500 have established their Nordic headquarters in one of the oldest cities of Europe, is part of Qatar Airways' aggressive expansion programme in 2010, which has so far seen four new destinations being added to its global route map.

The airline launched daily flights to India's IT capital city Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore, in February, and added Copenhagen in March. Ankara came online on April 5; Tokyo services began on April 26, complementing the airline's existing flights to the Japanese city of Osaka.

On June 7, Qatar Airways will add the Mediterranean port city of Barcelona to its European passenger network - covering 20 cities in Europe - which includes daily flights to the Spanish capital Madrid.

A highlight for Qatar Airways will be the expansion into South America - completing the airline's global jigsaw through the addition of another continent to its international route map.

Beginning June 24, Qatar Airways will serve the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo and the Argentine capital Buenos Aires with daily scheduled flights direct from Doha.

Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 83 aircraft to 89 diverse cities across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, South Asia and North America.

On the Doha - Copenhagen route, Qatar Airways operates an Airbus A319 in a two-class configuration of 8 seats in Business Class and 102 in Economy. On the Doha - Stockholm route, the airline operates an Airbus A330 with 24 seats in Business and 236 seats in Economy Class.