Doha, Qatar – Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, met with the Mayor of Chengdu, Mr. Ge Honglin, recently, building upon the strong ties that already exist between the airline and China. 

Commenting on the meeting, Mr. Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways has progressively developed our operations in China over the years, connecting even more passengers through our seven gateways in China to the Middle East and onwards on our network of more than 135 destinations around the world.

“Chengdu offers significant cultural and economic opportunities to passengers on our five-star network and we are delighted with how popular this recently launched route has become. I am also delighted to have had the opportunity to recently meet with the Mayor of Chengdu, Mr. Ge Honglin, and look forward to exploring further how we can develop our ties and connectivity to this city and others in China.”

Qatar Airways launched two routes in the second half of 2013 to Chengdu and Hangzhou, flying directly from its hub in Doha, Qatar, and now flies to a total of seven gateways across the country to meet the strong and growing demand from passengers in the region.

The airline, which has provided its signature five-star service to the Chinese market for 10 years, commenced its first flight to China in 2003. With the additions of Chengdu and Hangzhou to its route network in 2013, Qatar Airways increased its capacity across the country from 38 to 45 non-stop flights every week.

As the Middle-Eastern carrier with the largest route network across China, Qatar Airways is proud to serve the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Hong Kong. This network is also likely to grow further thanks to the airline’s expansion plans and its move this month to its new world-class hub, Hamad International Airport.

Hamad International Airport is the world’s latest global gateway and will raise the bar on passenger expectations, thanks to its state-of-the-art facilities and passenger-focused design.

Designed to accommodate 30 million passengers annually, rising to 50 million upon full completion, the airport covers an area of 29 sq kms and is 60 per cent built on land reclaimed from the Gulf.

Qatar Airways, the national carrier for the State of Qatar, will officially move to Hamad International Airport on the 27th May. The airline has seen rapid growth in just 17 years of operation, to the point where today it is flying a modern fleet of 134 aircraft to 138 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.

Over the next few months, the network will grow further with Al Hofuf, Saudi Arabia (May 15), Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Turkey (May 22, 2014), Edinburgh, Scotland (May 28, 2014), Miami, USA (June 10, 2014), Haneda, Japan (June 18, 2014), Dallas/Fort Worth, USA (July 1, 2014) and Djibouti (July 27, 2014).