Qatar Airways to double flights to Singapore

Qatar Airways has announced plans to introduce a second daily service on its popular Singapore route. The Doha-based airline currently operates daily flights from Doha to Singapore using its Boeing 777 aircraft with the services continuing on to the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Additional second daily service will be phased in from 1 May 2011 when the airline adds three weekly flights to its schedule. Three further weekly flights will be introduced from 1 October. A final extra flight will operate to Singapore from 3 November, taking frequency up to double daily.   

Qatar Airways’ entire European network will connect with Singapore via Doha International Airport, with a minimum transit time of one hour.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker, said; “Singapore has been one of our best-performing routes in the entire region for a long time, with load factors consistently in the high 90s. The addition of a second daily service will allow Qatar Airways to grow the passenger market for inbound and outbound travel to Singapore.”

“In 2010, Singapore experienced a record year in terms of economic growth and number of visitors to the city state. Qatar Airways is preparing to capitalise on these positive developments, which ultimately will translate to better services for passengers across our network. 

“The Far East continues to be a key market for Qatar Airways. We see even greater potential to expand further into this region and are evaluating several new route options which we intend to launch over the next 18 months,” he added.

The airline’s existing daily Singapore service is operated using Boeing 777 aircraft with 42 flat bed seats in Business Class and up to 293 seats in Economy Class. The second daily service will be operated using an Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft in a two-class configuration of up to 30 seats in Business Class and 275 seats in Economy Class.

The announcement marks the latest in a series of frequency increases for Qatar Airways in the Far East over the past 12 months, launching new services to Tokyo, Phuket and Hanoi, as well as boosting frequencies to Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Bali and Kuala Lumpur, while introducing its Boeing 777 aircraft on several routes.

Globally, Qatar Airways has launched 13 new routes since February 2010 - Bengaluru, Copenhagen, Ankara, Tokyo, Barcelona, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Phuket, Hanoi, Nice, Budapest, Bucharest and Brussels. Two additional destinations will be launched over the next two months: Stuttgart (6 March) and Aleppo (6 April), the latter becoming the airline’s 100th destination.

By 2013, Qatar Airways plans to serve over 120 key business and leisure destinations worldwide with a fleet of more than 120 aircraft. Currently, the airline’s fleet stands at 94 aircraft, flying to 98 destinations.