BERLIN, March 14, 2004– Qatar Airways and Lufthansa have extended a codeshare agreement between the two airlines to offer Lufthansa customers direct routes from Germany to Qatar and Qatar Airways customers daily access to Switzerland.
Qatar Airways’ Chief Executive Officer Mr Akbar Al Baker announced that a new extended agreement between the two airlines — which came into effect on March 1 — will mean:
- Lufthansa will codeshare on Qatar Airways’ Munich-Doha and Frankfurt-Doha flights
- Qatar Airways will codeshare on Lufthansa flights between Munich-Geneva and Frankfurt-Geneva
- Qatar Airways will codeshare on Lufthansa flights between Frankfurt-Zurich
The new agreement extends a present and long-standing agreement for Qatar Airways codesharing on Lufthansa flights between Munich and Zurich.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce this new extended codeshare agreement which will deliver real benefits to passengers of both Lufthansa and Qatar Airways,” said Mr Al Baker.
“This new codeshare agreement builds on the strong business relationship that we’ve established with Lufthansa.
“This extended agreement means that we can now offer our passengers daily access to and from the Swiss cities of Zurich and Geneva via our German destinations of Frankfurt and Munich.
“For Lufthansa passengers, it means they now have direct access to Qatar, in the heart of the Arabian Gulf, on one of the world’s fastest growing airlines which is also widely acclaimed for its quality service.
“Passengers who are members of Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club and Lufthansa’s Miles and More Programmes will also continue to enjoy reciprocal earn and burn points as part of this new agreement.
“The extension of this codeshare agreement with Lufthansa represents our continued efforts to build long lasting strategic alliances with other airlines.
“The fact that Qatar Airways was the first airline to pass IATA’s new IOSA safety audit last year, our growing route network and our emphasis on quality service continues to make Qatar Airways an attractive codeshare partner,” said Mr Al Baker.
Qatar Airways presently has codeshare agreements with Lufthansa, Alitalia, Malaysian, Philippine Airlines, Garuda and Biman.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce this new extended codeshare agreement which will deliver real benefits to passengers of both Lufthansa and Qatar Airways,” said Mr Al Baker.
“This new codeshare agreement builds on the strong business relationship that we’ve established with Lufthansa.
“This extended agreement means that we can now offer our passengers daily access to and from the Swiss cities of Zurich and Geneva via our German destinations of Frankfurt and Munich.
“For Lufthansa passengers, it means they now have direct access to Qatar, in the heart of the Arabian Gulf, on one of the world’s fastest growing airlines which is also widely acclaimed for its quality service.
“Passengers who are members of Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club and Lufthansa’s Miles and More Programmes will also continue to enjoy reciprocal earn and burn points as part of this new agreement.
“The extension of this codeshare agreement with Lufthansa represents our continued efforts to build long lasting strategic alliances with other airlines.
“The fact that Qatar Airways was the first airline to pass IATA’s new IOSA safety audit last year, our growing route network and our emphasis on quality service continues to make Qatar Airways an attractive codeshare partner,” said Mr Al Baker.
Qatar Airways presently has codeshare agreements with Lufthansa, Alitalia, Malaysian, Philippine Airlines, Garuda and Biman.
Doha-based Qatar Airways will operate a fleet of 110 aircraft by 2013 – almost double the existing size. Qatar Airways has ordered 80 Airbus A350s, 60 Boeing 787s and 32 Boeing 777s, with deliveries of the latter having started in November 2007. The airline is a launch customer of the twin-deck Airbus A380 ‘super jumbos’ with five aircraft on order and scheduled for delivery from 2010. Qatar Airways moves to the New Doha International Airport in 2010, when the first phase of the new facility opens. For more information, visit www.ndiaproject.com
Qatar Airways is one of only six airlines in the world with a Five Star ranking for service and excellence awarded by Skytrax, the independent aviation industry monitoring agency. Skytrax also named Qatar Airways’ cabin crew as Best in the Middle East for the fifth year running in 2007 following a survey of more than 15 million passengers worldwide. For more information, log onto www.qatarairways.com
Qatar Airways Corporate Communications
Tel: +974 4496956, Fax: +974 4620132
E-mail: qrmedia@qatarairways.com.qa