Qatar Airways to launch flights to Nagpur in India

Nagpur is to become Qatar Airways' newest Indian destination this summer. The airline plans to fly non-stop scheduled services between its operational hub of Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, and the central Indian city of Nagpur in the State of Maharashtra.

The Nagpur route will be operated with an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.

Qatar Airways currently operates 30 flights a week between Qatar and five cities across India.

Delhi, Mumbai and Trivandrum are each served with seven flights a week; Hyderabad four times a week; and Cochin five times weekly.

Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi today, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said Nagpur was an unknown destination on the global map, but with few airlines serving the industrial city, there was incredible potential.

“Nagpur is underserved both domestically and internationally by air carriers,” he said, adding, “but this extremely resource-rich region of Maharashtra offers tremendous business opportunities as it is also one of India’s largest inland container transport hubs.

“With the creation of an economic zone and a new airport project underway in Nagpur, Qatar Airways is delighted to expand its Indian services by introducing Nagpur to the summer schedules and growing international operations.”

Qatar Airways will also be expanding its global network further during 2006 with at least 10 new routes, boosting its current network of 69 destinations worldwide. 

Daily flights between Doha and Hong Kong are due to begin on March 26, and Qatar Airways’ inaugural services to the United States are scheduled to start later this year.

Qatar Airways is also focusing its efforts during 2006 on increasing frequency to a number of destinations from Doha to provide passengers from around the world – including India – with greater choice.

From the summer season, which begins on March 26, Qatar Airways is adding capacity to a range of existing destinations:-

Manchester – up from four flights a week to daily
Athens – up from five to seven services a week
Paris – up from daily to 10 flights a week, rising to double daily next winter
Frankfurt – up from daily to nine flights a week, rising to 10 flights next winter
Madrid – all three flights to operate non-stop
Bangkok – up from 11 flights a week to double daily
Osaka – up from four flights a week to five, rising to six next winter

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