Qatar Airways is spreading its wings. Despite the illegal blockade against Qatar, the airline continues to thrive and grow. This can be gauged from the fact that Qatar’s national airline has launched 24 new destinations since the blockade and has expanded its network to over 150 destinations around the world.
A strategic and rapid response from Qatar Airways when neighbouring countries illegally blocked Qatar’s airspace on June 5, 2017 put the airline in a position of strength. Within 10 weeks new destinations to Sohar, Prague and Kyiv were announced and launched, while other routes saw an increase in frequency and capacity, thus swiftly redeploying capacity with a view to soften the impact of being illegally blockaded from 18 regional gateways.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said: “I am pleased to say that thanks to our robust business planning, swift actions in the face of the crisis, our passenger-focused solutions and dedicated staff, the impact has been minimised – and has certainly not been as negative as our neighbouring countries may have hoped for”. Also, just six weeks after the start of the blockade, Qatar Airways proved to the world that its neighbours had failed to reach their objective in reducing the airline to collapse by instead winning the coveted title of ‘Skytrax Airline of the Year’ for the fourth time in less than 10 years. The airline also took home awards for ‘World’s Best Business Class’, ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, and ‘World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge’.
Qatar Airways has become one of the world’s most highly-respected airlines, competing on a scale very few airlines achieve. Passengers have recognised the airline’s commitment to the values of safety, security, innovation and quality of service. The airlines’ annual report for 2017/18 said that during the financial year, Qatar Airways Group continued apace with the expansion of its investment portfolio to include an initial 9.94 percent stake in Cathay Pacific, which has since increased to 9.99 percent, as well as a 49 percent share of AQA Holding, the parent company of Meridiana fly, which was relaunched as Air Italy in February 2018.
It is noteworthy that Qatar Airways has not wavered from its strategy and vision of constant growth and development. It was the first airline in the world to take delivery of the Airbus A350-1000 in February 2018. In addition, the airline added 20 other aircraft to the fleet throughout the financial year, increasing the total number to 213, as of March 31, 2018.
Qatar Airways recently announced that it will launch direct flights to Kenya’s second city, Mombasa, in addition to existing flights to Nairobi, opening up the country’s beautiful coasts to international holiday-makers. Adding more destinations and fleet in the coming years, Qatar Airways aims to connect more people, continue and offer its passengers outstanding levels of comfort and style.
