A pair of free Business Class tickets anywhere on the airline’s global route network are up for grabs for football fans on social media
Qatar Airways gears up to launch a new daily service to St. Petersburg next month
DOHA, Qatar – Qatar Airways has launched a social media competition with a top prize of a free pair of Business Class tickets anywhere in the world, to help celebrate the Final Draw for the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Draw takes place on Friday 1 December at the State Kremlin Palace in the heart of Moscow, Russia.
The competition kicks off a series of activities planned by the airline over the coming months as excitement builds in the run-up to the start of next summer’s 2018 FIFA World Cup across Russia. The tournament will be watched by billions of football fans around the world as the top teams compete from 14 June to 15 July, 2018, across 11 Russian host cities.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are delighted to be sharing this journey with the football teams and the devoted fans of each country involved in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, as they gear up for the tournament next summer. As the Official Airline of FIFA, Qatar Airways is looking forward to welcome football fans from around the world to matches across Russia.
“We believe that sport brings people together, and we are proud to play a part in connecting fans all around the world with this amazing football experience, thanks to our global route network. We will shortly begin our new direct flights to St. Petersburg, Russia, making it even easier for football fans to take part in this highly-anticipated historic sporting event.”
Football fans can join in the fun of the Final Draw on social media by competing to win a pair of Business Class tickets to any Qatar Airways destination around the world. By clicking on a special link on Qatar Airways’ Facebook page, fans will be required to predict the four teams in each of the eight groups using the 32 qualified teams. The lucky winner of the pair of Business Class tickets will be chosen from those whose guesses exactly or most closely matches the Draw results in Moscow on 1 December.
Further cementing the strong ties between Russia and Qatar, Qatar Airways will also launch its new daily service to the cultural capital of Russia, St. Petersburg, doubling the Russian routes operated by the five-star carrier. The new daily flights, which start on 19 December 2017, will operate between Doha and St. Petersburg with an Airbus A320, offering 12 flatbed seats in Business Class and 120 seats in Economy Class. Qatar Airways first started flying to Russia in 2003, and now, 14 years later, the airline offers three daily flights between Doha and Moscow.
Qatar was announced in May as an Official Partner and the Official Airline of FIFA as part of a ground-breaking sponsorship package lasting until 2022. Upcoming events sponsored by Qatar Airways will include the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the FIFA Club World Cup, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the FIFA eWorld Cup, the world’s largest online gaming tournament.
As an Official Partner of FIFA, Qatar Airways will have extensive marketing and branding rights at the next two FIFA World Cups, with an expected audience reach of billions of people per tournament. The airline also had visibility at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia and FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.
Qatar Airways was named the Skytrax ‘Airline of the Year’ earlier this year. The national carrier of the State of Qatar also won a raft of other major awards at the Skytrax awards ceremony, including ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, ‘World’s Best Business Class’ and ‘World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge’.
Qatar’s national carrier operates a modern fleet of more than 200 aircraft to a network of more than 150 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America. The airline is launching a host of exciting new destinations planned for the remainder of this year and 2018, including Canberra, Australia; Cardiff, United Kingdom and Penang, Malaysia, to name just a few.
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Notes to Editors:
About Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, is celebrating 20 years of Going Places Together with travellers across its more than 150 business and leisure destinations. The world’s fastest-growing airline will add a number of exciting new destinations to its growing network in 2017/18, including St. Petersburg, Russia; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Canberra, Australia and many more, flying passengers on board its modern fleet of more than 200 aircraft.
A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was recently named ‘Airline of the Year’ by the 2017 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named ‘World’s Best Business Class,’ ‘Best Airline in the Middle East,’ and ‘World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge.’
Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld global alliance. The award-winning alliance was named the World’s Best Airline Alliance 2015 by Skytrax for the third year running. Qatar Airways was the first Gulf carrier to join global airline alliance, oneworld, enabling its passengers to benefit from more than 1,000 airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,250 daily departures.
Oryx One, Qatar Airways’ in-flight entertainment system offers passengers up to 4,000 entertainment options from the latest blockbuster movies, TV box sets, music, games and much more. Passengers flying on Qatar Airways flights served by its B787, A350, A380, A319 and select A320 and A330 aircraft can also stay in touch with their friends and family around the world by using the award-winning airline’s on-board Wi-Fi and GSM service.
Qatar Airways proudly supports a range of exciting international and local initiatives dedicated to enriching the global community that it serves. Qatar Airways, the official FIFA partner, is the official sponsor of many top-level sporting events, including the FIFA 2018 and 2022 World Cups, reflecting the values of sports as a means of bringing people together, something at the core of the airline’s own brand message - Going Places Together.
Qatar Airways Cargo, the world’s third largest international cargo carrier, serves more than 60 exclusive freighter destinations worldwide via its world-class Doha hub and also delivers freight to more than 150 key business and leisure destinations globally with more than 200 aircraft. The Qatar Airways Cargo fleet includes eight Airbus A330 freighters, 12 Boeing 777 freighters and one Boeing 747-8 freighter.
For further information, please contact:
Qatar Airways Group, Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +974 4022 2200