Perth becomes Qatar Airways’ second gateway in Australia after Melbourne – and the carrier’s 117th destination worldwide. It is also the latest of several route launches by the rapidly-growing global airline this year.

Operated by the award-winning airline’s flagship long-haul Boeing 777 aircraft, passengers fly in supreme comfort, with fine dining onboard and access to more than 1,000 in-flight audio and video entertainment options in every seat.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker led a high profile delegation onboard the non-stop flight, QR900 from Doha to Perth. Guests onboard the inaugural flight included Australia’s Ambassador to Qatar, His Excellency Pablo Kang, along with airline executives and international and local media.

The delegation was officially welcomed at Perth International Airport by Deputy Premier and Minister of Tourism for Western Australia, The Honourable Dr Kim Hames MLA; Qatar’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Australia, His Excellency Yousef Ali Al Khater; and Perth Airport CEO Brad Geatches.

The arrival ceremony included a traditional ‘Welcome to Country’ colourful performance by local Dance Troupe, Wadumbah.

Addressing guests on arrival, Al Baker said Qatar Airways' entry into Perth marked one of the Gulf carrier's biggest route launches this year.

"Today marks a very special occasion as we celebrate our arrival into a city that shows enormous potential and growth, both as a competitive tourism destination and as the hub for Australia’s mining and exploration industry,” he said.

“There has never been a better time to expand in Australia – a time when the Australian dollar is strong and business and leisure travellers worldwide seek easier and quicker ways to connect and do business globally.

“Tourism is the major economic driver in Western Australia and Qatar Airways arrives at a time when tourists and business travellers are looking for greater travel options, as well as superior service levels to exceed their expectations.

“The people of Perth and across Western Australia now have great travel options to more than 100 destinations worldwide, including Venice, Istanbul, Kigali, Nairobi, New York, London, Paris, Johannesburg, Zagreb, Athens, Sao Paulo and many, many more.”

Added Al Baker: “Our flight connections to Africa in particular will greatly please the people of Western Australia, whose strong links with the mining and business communities in East Africa signal enormous growth potential.

“Qatar Airways remains committed to opening up access to destinations that are largely underserved by international airlines and have great market potential. Perth is an example of this and 2012 will continue to be one of our biggest years of expansion addressing the underserved markets that our strategy has focused on.

“We look forward to developing the Perth route and we are already looking to improve frequency to a daily service by the end of the year.”

Qatar Airways also operates daily non-stop scheduled flights between Melbourne and Doha using its signature Boeing 777 long-range aircraft with convenient onward connections to cities across Europe, Africa, Middle East and both North and South America.

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 15 years of operation, currently flying a modern fleet of 109 aircraft to 117 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.

Since the beginning of the year, Qatar Airways has begun services to Baku (Azerbaijan); Tbilisi (Georgia); Zagreb (Croatia), Kigali (Rwanda), Erbil (Iraq) and Baghdad (Iraq), with many more new destinations planned during 2012.

Over the next few months, Qatar Airways launches services to a diverse portfolio of new routes, including Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (July 25); Mombasa, Kenya (August 15); Yangon, Myanmar (Oct 3); Maputo, Mozambique (October 31) and a date yet-to-be-announced to the Serbian capital Belgrade.