Qatar to fly to Bangalore

Qatar Airways recently unveiled the launch date of its newest Indian destination with daily non-stop scheduled flights between Doha and Bengaluru beginning on February 22.

India's Silicon Valley

The vibrant southern Indian city - dubbed as India's Silicon Valley, being home to the country's largest IT software industry - becomes the airline's 11th destination in India and first new route of 2010.

Commonly known as Bangalore, the city is also home to some of the country's most affluent colleges and research institutions with numerous public sector companies across the aerospace, telecommunications and defence industries.

Excellent connections

With excellent flight connections from Europe, the US, Africa and the Middle East, the new route is expected be popular among both leisure travellers, as well as the international business community with strong commercial links to the city.

Qatar Airways flies from Johannesburg to Doha daily and from Cape Town four times a week before connecting onwards to 85 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, south Asia, the Far East, and even North America, with plans to top 120 destinations worldwide by 2013.

The airline also provides convenient connections to many destinations across the US, including Bengaluru's sister city of San Francisco, through code share flights operated by partner carrier United Airlines.

Launch fares

To celebrate the new route, Qatar Airways is introducing launch fares from key international markets to Bengaluru. The airline kicks-off its promotional activities this week with a print and radio media campaign across the southern Indian state of Karnataka, of which Bengaluru is the capital city.

In addition, depending on the country of origin, members of Qatar Airways Privilege Club will earn up to 28 000 bonus Qmiles when they fly the new Bengaluru route. For more details on the offer, go to www.qmiles.com.

With the addition of Bengaluru, Qatar Airways' Indian capacity will rise to 71 flights a week spread across 11 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Cochin, Kozhikode, and the recently introduced Goa and Amritsar.

The Doha - Bengaluru route will be operated by an Airbus A320, featuring 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.