Qatar Airways launch Ta’if

Qatar Airways further expanded its operations in Saudi Arabia with the launch of flights to Ta’if. The inaugural flight 1206 arrived in Ta’if to a water salute. A high level delegation from the airline’s headquarters in Doha was led by Fathi Al Shehab, Qatar Airways senior vice president GCC, Levant, Iran and Indian subcontinent.

Fathi Al Shehab was met by Abdulbaset M Al-Salafi, act director domestic airport operations and Abdul Rhman Al Bathi, Ta’if airport general manager.

“Qatar Airways will continue exploring new opportunities in Saudi and providing it with new services that will boost its tourism sector,” said Fathi Al Shehab. “Ta’if is a vital tourist and cultural centre. I am confident that this city will succeed in attracting tourists and business men alike,” he added.

Qatar Airways will operate four flights a week non-stop from Doha to Ta’if. The addition of this new Saudi city takes the total number of destinations within the airline’s network to 132. With the new four weekly flights, Qatar Airways now operates 69 flights a week to Saudi.

The Ta’if route is operated with an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 seats in Economy. Besides Ta’if, Qatar Airways has so far launched nine destinations this year – Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Najaf (Iraq), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Chicago (USA), Salalah (Oman), Basra (Iraq), Sulaymaniyah (Iraq) and Chengdu (China) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). Over the next few months, the network will expand with the addition of Clark International Airport, Philippines (October 27) and Philadelphia, USA (April 2, 2014).