Qatar Airways and Hamad International Airport were both recently recognised in the Aviation Industry for excellent service and unrivalled customer-centric business approaches. This adds to a list of awards and recognitions both entities have enjoyed, especially in the last decade, under the stewardship of the Group Chief Executive, H E Akbar Al Baker.
AirlineRatings Awards recently named Qatar Airways as the Airline of the Year, beating the previous winner Air New Zealand. For a third time in a row, the national carrier of Qatar bagged the Best Business Class award.
Qatar Airways won Inflight Catering Award for the third straight year in the same Awards, also adding Best Long Haul Middle East/Africa honours.
These awards emphasize Qatar Airways’ commitment to keeping the world’s air routes open during COVID-19. Its innovative and customer-friendly products and its famous inflight service continue to push the airline to greater recognition, despite the challenges caused by the pandemic on global aviation.
Achieving milestones is not new to Qatar Airways, having picked up many awards for its service and cabin seating over the past 10 years.
The multiple award-winning airline currently services over 140 destinations.
Meanwhile, the prestigious HIA added another feather to its cap as the busiest airport in the region. The travel analytics firm Forward Keys’ new research shows that air traffic (based on flight booking data) through Hamad International airport has overtaken Dubai International in the first half of this year.
Forward Keys said that HIA had “seized and consolidated a lead,” with the volume of air tickets issued for travel via Doha 18 percent higher than through Dubai for the period between January 1 and June 30, 2021.
At the height of the pandemic, Qatar Airways and HIA continued operations after implementing innovative safety measures at the airport. Many routes in and out of Doha remained operational, resulting in HIA becoming a significant hub for repatriation flights – most notably to Johannesburg and Montreal.
Besides that, HIA boasts the world’s first airport lounge for the exclusive use of seafarers and offshore workers. It has surpassed more than 50,000 visitors since it opened its doors in late 2020. During the pandemic, Qatar Airways carried more than 380,000 seafarers and offshore workers since April 2020, including repatriations and crew changes, and there have been around 100 charters carrying around 28,000 mariners.
Also, Qatar Duty Free recently launched the ’21 in 21’ that will enhance the retail portfolio of 21 new shopping and food & beverage outlets. The new outlets will be located in both the departure and arrival areas, scheduled to open in phases over the coming months.
These achievements show Qatar Airways and HIA as pacesetters in the industry as others follow.
