Qatar Airways wins award at Berlin exhibition

Qatar Airways and Qatar Tourism Authority were adjudged by the exhibition organisers as the second and third best Middle East stand, at the five-day ITB event in Berlin while Emirates became the winner.

CEO of Qatar Airlines Akbar Al Baker, was also honoured by the prominent Pacific Asia Travel Writers' Association (PATWA) with the 'Aviation Man of the Year' award for his achievements in turning Qatar Airways into one of the fastest growing airlines in the world.

The airline today has developed from a four-aircraft operation and small route network to a fleet size today of 39 planes flying to 59 destinations around the world.

Qatar Airways' award-winning stand was a unique two-tier feature with a reception desk, seating area for meetings and presentations, and a refreshment area where Qatar Airways cabin crew served Arabic coffee and dates.

'I am extremely proud, on behalf of Qatar Airways, Qatar Tourism Authority, and the employees of both these organisations, to earn such distinguished awards at ITB, Al Baker said.

The two airlines operatsa reguler daily flights to Colombo from Doha and Dubai and also offerd special ITB packages along with SriLankan airlines for the Sri Lanka travel industry.

Al Baker expressed his delight for being honoured during the ceremony, which was held on the sidelines of a seminar about the effects of the Asian tsunami disaster on the aviation and tourism industry.

During ITB Berlin, Qatar Airways promoted its new Business Class and latest destinations of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Seychelles by giving away tickets in the premium cabin through a raffle draw.

In addition, Japanese drummers entertained visitors on the stand and sushi was served to promote Osaka, the airline's newest and 60th route, which will be launched from Doha four times a week, beginning on March 31.

Chosen for its design, as well as the service and activities on the stand, the Emirates exhibit is shaped like an Airbus A380 superjumbo.

The A380 is the world's first double decker aircraft and Emirates is by far the largest customer for this aircraft with 45 on order which they will start to receive from October 2006.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of the Emirates Group, who leads the delegation of senior Emirates staff who have been meeting buyers, travel agents, tour operators, hoteliers, and government tourism officials at the show said:

"We are very proud to have won the award for Best Exhibitor for the Middle East section. We like to make an impact at these shows and we feel that the quality of effort we put into our stand reflects the high quality of effort that is apparent at every level of our operation".