Qatar Airways chief stresses eastern Euro expansion plans

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker has spelled out the strategic importance of the airline’s ongoing expansion in central and eastern Europe following its latest route launch to Sofia. The airline’s launch of scheduled flights to Bulgaria’s capital city complements its earlier services to neighbouring Bucharest and Budapest with the Gulf carrier now flying to three strategic cities in eastern Europe.With four-flights-a-week operating between Doha and Sofia via Bucharest, and daily services linking the Qatari capital with Budapest, the airline now flies 10-times-a-week to three key cities within the region.The Romanian capital Bucharest was previously tagged with the airline’s Budapest services at the time of launch in January, but has now been switched to link-up with Sofia. The Doha – Budapest flights now operate non-stop.Qatar Airways now flies to 26 destinations across Europe.”Our rapid footprint in this part of Europe this year has given travellers to and from Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, much improved travel options to a wider market, avoiding the need to travel through congested European airports to get to their final decision,” said Al Baker.”It has been a conscious decision to open up routes in central eastern Europe, with the latest addition of Bulgaria demonstrating our commitment to the region which we strongly believe has great potential and will remain an important part of Qatar Airways’ growth strategy going forward.”