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By Shirajiv Sirimane

Qatar Airways introduced two additional flights to Sri Lanka last week to operate daily direct flights to Qatar. "Colombo will be the latest destination to have an increase in flight frequencies," said CEO Qatar Airways, Akbar Al-Baker who was in Sri Lanka last week to launch these flights.

He said that there is a large Sri Lankan expatriate community in Qatar and this was the main reason for the airline to introduce additional flights. He added that since Qatar Airways operates with an ultra modern Airbus fleet of 18 aircraft, flying to 35 destinations in 26 countries many tourists from Sri Lanka too utilise the airline.

The two additional flights operates on Tuesdays and Saturdays arriving at 1550 hours and departing at 1715 hours each day on the Colombo Doha sectors. Both flights will be operated by Airbus 320s which have a capacity of 12 business and 132 economy class seats.

Al-Baker said that Qatar Airways has been flying to Sri Lanka since 1994 and has never pulled out unlike other airlines even during very bad times in Sri Lanka. "We are not only a profit oriented airline but we do also care about the development of the country and the airline showed our commitment by not pulling out even after the Katunayake terrorist attack and paying huge insurance fees."

He also said that Qatar Airways employs over 70 Sri Lankans and most of them are in the engineering section.

"We hope to increase the fleet to over 30 aircraft and the number of destinations to 50 by the year 2005. With seven new passenger routes this year, Qatar Airways, is the world's fastest growing airline. We operate seven A320-200 aircraft, eight A300-600 aircraft, two A330-200 aircraft and one ACJ319 Airbus Corporate Jetliner. We have on order three A330s, two A380s and ten A320 aircraft," he said.

Asked if the airline has any plans of operating via India to Doha he said that since India has a very strict open sky policy it was very difficult to push for this destination. "It is always one way traffic to India and we also adopt the same policy. However, Qatar Airways is also looking very seriously at India for further expansion as there is considerable potential for the airline in India, Lahore, Peshawar and Dacca."

With regard to new destinations Al-Baker said they would be flying into Manchester in April this year and Shanghai in June, while Addis Ababa, Aden, Islamabad, Lagos, Moscow and Tripoli were also been looked at. Qatar Airways in-flight service comprises a First Class which is branded "A Bed in the Sky", Business Class which is referred to as "The lap of comfort" and Economy Class "Travelling in style". Qatar Airway's "Privilege Club" is one of the most rewarding frequent flyer programs in the Middle East.

While in Sri Lanka Al-Baker also had talks with the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickramesinghe local aviation authorities and Cabinet Ministers and discussed matters of mutual interest. "We have plans for Qatar Airways and no doubt Sri Lanka will be a part of these plans," he said.

With the booming economy, Qatar, one of the world's largest producers of natural gas, is undergoing a massive expansion in infrastructure. The Qatar economy is growing strongly and the state wants an airline that matches its expansion," he said.

Delmege Forsyth Travels are the general sales agents for Qatar Airways.

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