Tag Archives: Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways has announced that it held a 15.67 per cent shareholding in International Airlines Group (IAG) and reiterated that it may consider increasing its stake further within the allowable limits. Non-EU shareholders of IAG including Qatar Airways are subject to an overall cap on non-EU ownership as a result of the requirement for EU airlines to be majority owned by EU shareholders. As of July 28, Qatar Airways now holds 20.01 per cent of IAG. While Qatar Airways’ interest in IAG is purely financial, the increased shareholding reflects the strength of commercial and strategic ties between the companies and evidences the continued support for the ongoing strategy of IAG.

Qatar Airways has partnered with Malaysian based airline Malindo Air to offer passengers seamless travel and greater connectivity when travelling between Southeast Asia and over 100 destinations in Qatar Airways’ network. This bilateral agreement enables Qatar Airways to tap into Malindo Air’s growing short haul regional network currently serving 40 cities in 12 countries which includes 13 major airports in Malaysia. Passengers can now travel to over 140 destinations in the world. Malindo Air passengers travelling from cities such as Langkawi, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Johor Bahru and Kuching can also easily book interline itineraries using one of Qatar Airways’ thrice-daily flights departing from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and seamlessly connecting to more than 100 onwards destinations within the Qatar Airways global network.

India Tourism in Dubai and Indian Embassy in Cairo organised a ‘Know India’ seminar for the travel trade at Tagore Hall, Embassy of India, in Cairo recently. I.R.V. Rao, Assistant Director, India Tourism in Dubai, Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Ambassador of India to Arab Republic of Egypt, Melwin D’ Silva, Regional Manager-Gulf, Middle East and Africa, Air India, attended the event with 45 travel agents, representatives from Egypt Air and Qatar Airways. The delegation from the Government of Egypt included Mahmoud Abdel Wahab, General Manager-Tourism Relations, Ministry of Tourism, Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt; Mohamed Salama, Egyptian Tourism Authority (ITA), Ministry of Tourism, Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The event was held on July 14, 2016.

Starting 1st August 2016, Qatar Airways will increase the number of flights from Doha to Muscat to enable more passenger traffic between the two destinations. Now with 35 flights a week from Hamad International Airport travellers can easily explore the popular Omani capital city. Passengers travelling from Muscat will now also have increased access to the rest of the world, with the ability to connect through Hamad International Airport and enjoy award-winning facilities, such as Qatar Airways’ Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge while connecting to more than 150 destinations. Qatar Airways’ new flight to Muscat will depart from Doha at 2.20 am, arriving in Muscat at 5am, with the return flight departing from Muscat at 6.45am and landing in Doha at 7:25am. The airline operates services to Muscat with its A320 aircraft, offering both its award-winning Business and Economy Class options to passengers. Qatar Airways was announced as the World’s Best Business Class in the 2016 World Airline Awards this week, as voted for by global travellers. The Skytrax awards recognised the airline for its commitment to offering passengers an unrivalled travelling experience announcing Qatar Airways as also offering the Best Business Class Airline Lounge and the Best Airline Staff Service in the Middle East.  

LATAM Airlines Group and Qatar Airways, both members of the oneworld alliance, have entered into a subscription agreement providing for Qatar Airways to acquire up to 10 per cent of LATAM’s total shares, which will be acquired in connection with a capital increase. As part of the agreement, LATAM Airlines Group will hold an Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting no later than 2 September, 2016 to propose a capital increase in the amount of $613 million through the issuance of new shares at a price of $10 per share. The announcement was made at the Farnborough International Air Show in England, by both airlines’ CEOs: His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive of Qatar Airways and Enrique Cueto, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group. The companies expect the transaction to be completed within the fourth quarter of 2016. Qatar Airways was advised by HSBC Bank plc, Weil, Gotshall & Manges LLP and Carey, whilst LATAM Airlines Group was advised by JP Morgan, Claro & Cía y Sullivan & Cromwell.

Qatar Airways Group has announced a 3 billion QAR operating profit for fiscal year 2016 – nearly three times greater than fiscal 2015 profit of 1.1 billion QAR, resulting in an 8.6 per cent operating profit margin, an improvement of nearly six percentage points from the prior year, from 35.6 billion QAR in revenues. The company reported a net profit of 1.6 billion QAR, resulting in a net profit margin of 4.5 per cent. Net profit for fiscal 2015 was 1.1 per cent, at 374 million QAR. Qatar Airways growth rate (CAGR) in ASK term since the re-launch in 1997 to 31st March 2016 is 28 per cent. For the year ending March 31, 2016, Qatar Airways Group reduced its expenses 1.5 per cent and increased its cash and bank balance from 5.5 billion QAR to 12 billion QAR, despite the significant growth in operations and an adverse movement in foreign currency exchange. Over the course of fiscal 2016, Qatar Airways added 13 new destinations and increased its overall network to more than 150 destinations on six continents. The airline was also the global launch customer of the Airbus A350XWB, the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world, and was the first commercial airline to fly it to the United States.

Qatar Airways celebrated the addition of tourist favourite Marrakech to its global route map, with the airline’s inaugural flight landing at Marrakech Menara Airport on 1 July and opening up a world of more than 150 destinations to customers travelling from the Moroccan city. On board flight QR1395 was a Qatar Airways delegation lead by Dr. Hugh Dunleavy, the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, who was greeted by the Marrakech Menara Airport General Manager,  Nawal Mounir; Morocco’s Minister of tourism, Lahcen Haddad; and the Qatari Counselor to Morocco, Mansour Abdullah Al Sulaiteen. To celebrate the first flight, Qatar Airways hosted an Iftar for VIPs, officials, authorities, trade and media, at La Mamounia hotel in Marrakech. The return flight from Marrakech travels directly non-stop to Doha. Qatar Airways began its Morocco operations in 2002. Additionaly through a codeshare partnership with Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways offers customers the opportunity to seamlessly connect to destinations throughout Morocco, Spain, and north- and west Africa, with the additional benefit of enhanced frequent flyer benefits. Import and export businesses in Morocco will also benefit from the new service which provides up to 33 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity a week.

Qatar Airways and SriLankan Airlines, both members of the oneworld alliance, have strengthened their cooperation with a bilateral code-share relationship.The airlines will code-share on flights between their respective hubs – Qatar Airways’ thrice daily Airbus A340-600 operations to Colombo and SriLankan Airlines’ daily Airbus A330-300 flight to Doha. The combination of four daily flights between Doha and Colombo will offer customers additional convenience and flexibility. Passengers travelling to Colombo on Qatar Airways now have additional connectivity to the popular holiday hotspot Male, in the Maldives. SriLankan Airlines passengers can also now transit through Doha’s Hamad International Airport and travel onwards, subject to government approvals, to 20 leisure and business destinations, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, Copenhagen, Moscow, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Manchester, Milan, Oslo, Sofia, Stockholm, Vienna, Zurich, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Bahrain and Cape Town. Travellers will also benefit from accruing frequent flyer miles, together with other oneworld privileges such as access to spacious lounges, extra baggage allowances, priority check-in and boarding, fast track security lanes and special fares across both carriers’ networks.

Qatar Airways will expand its network to Chiang Mai in Thailand from December 16, 2016. The airline will fly to Chiang Mai five times a week via Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, with an A330-200.The largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand, Chiang Mai will be the fourth city in the Asian country to be served by Qatar Airways, which currently flies to Bangkok and Phuket, and will commence flights to Krabi on 6 December. With the addition of Krabi and Chiang Mai to its network Qatar Airways will increase its flights to Thailand from 39 to 48 per week by the end of 2016. The launch of flights to Chiang Mai comes at a time when Qatar Airways is rapidly expanding its network and will inaugurate 14 new destinations on its route map throughout 2016 and into early 2017. New destination launches include: Marrakech (1 July 2016), Pisa (2 August 2016), Windhoek (28 September 2016), Helsinki (10 October 2016) Sarajevo (2 November 2016), Seychelles (12 December 2016), Auckland (6 February 2017), Skopje (2017), Libreville (2017), Douala (2017), Lusaka (summer 2017) and Nice (summer 2017).

Armenia is the latest destination added to Qatar Airways global route map, and will commence four times weekly service between Doha and Yerevan, connecting the city and country with more than 150 destinations worldwide. The inaugural flight touched down in the early hours and was greeted by a traditional water salute, Qatar Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer Dr. Hugh Dunleavy, who travelled on board the inaugural flight with Armenia’s Ambassador to Qatar, His Excellency Gegham Gharibjanian were greeted at the arrival gate by Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport, Deputy General Manager, Andranik Shkhyan.