Qatar Airways to Launch Hangzhou Flights

Qatar Airways is to launch flights to Hangzhou, China on 20 December 2013.

The non-stop service from Doha to Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, will fly four-times-weekly. Airbus A330 aircraft will be operated on the Doha – Hangzhou route.

The aircraft will feature 260 seats with 24 seats in Business Class and 236 seats in Economy.

Selected aircraft will feature seatback TV screens, providing passengers with the next generation interactive on board entertainment system, featuring a choice of more than 800 audio and video on-demand options.

“This year we celebrate 10 years of flying to China,” said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker. “The addition of our seventh route in China will provide additional connectivity for business and leisure travellers connecting from Asia, the Middle East and GCC countries. Just two months after the launch of the Chengdu service, we are able to offer our passengers even more options for flying into China with the addition of Hangzhou.”

Qatar Airways began operations to China in 2003 with the launch non-stop flights to Shanghai, with the airline further expanding its portfolio over the past decade with the addition of Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Chongqing and Chengdu.

Hangzhou, which is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in China, is known for its rich history and picturesque scenery. The city, one of the top tourist sites in China, is also referred to as ‘Paradise on Earth’, ‘Home of Silk’ and ‘Tea Capital’. Highlights for tourists to Hangzhou include:

• West Lake – This fresh water lake has been an attraction for centuries. The enormous land-and-water park, has some 40 scenic and/or historic sites, comprising more than 30 key cultural relics which are distributed around the lake.

• Linying Temple – With a history of over 1600 years, the temple comprises of nine buildings, eighteen pavilions, seventy-seven palaces and halls with over thirteen hundred rooms providing accommodation for around three thousand monks.

• National Silk Museum – It is the world largest silk museum introducing the 5000 years of silk development history in China. The exhibits include silk products from the Neolithic Age to present day, showing the long development history of the silk.

• Xixi National Wetland Park – It is the only national wetland in the integration of city wetland, farming wetland and culture wetland. White wooden houses with dark decorations in traditional Chinese style spread out in harmony with the most beautiful of trees.

• Wuzhen – A typical water town, buildings are lying on the sides of river, showing Low Bridge, Stream Running and Cottages. Wuzhen is still a living town, where daily life goes on as it has been for about one thousand years, and it is honored as “The Last Resting-on-water Town in China”.

Qatar Airways will begin operations to and from Hangzhou (HGH) effective 20 December 2013 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.