Qatar Airways expands SA network with 28 weekly flights

©Jordan Tan via 123RF

Airline’s young mixed fleet of sustainable aircraft has enabled it to continue flying throughout the pandemic and rebuild its global network to more than 800 weekly flights to over 120 destinations via the Best Airport in the Middle East

Qatar Airways group chief executive His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker, said: "We are proud to be one of leading international carrier connecting South Africa with Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the U.S., offering more flexible travel options and a global network of flights that passengers, trade and business partners can rely on.

"South Africa has always been a very important market to us and we continue to demonstrate our commitment to the region by adding new routes and steadily increasing frequencies across the continent.

"As global travel recovers in 2021, we look forward to further expanding our network and offering more connections to and from Africa via the Best Airport in the Middle East, Hamad International Airport, to our global network of over 120 destinations."

Increasing air capacity to South Africa

South African Tourism CEO, Sisa Ntshona, said: "We are delighted at the confidence shown by Qatar Airways by increasing its air capacity to South Africa in these challenging times. This certainly demonstrates to the world that South Africa has put the necessary measures in place to ensure that it is safe for travel in the Covid-19 environment.

"Air Access is important for South Africa, as we to look to recover post-Covid and Qatar Airways has an extensive global network that links travellers via DOHA from our source markets. As we embark on our tourism recovery strategy, having airlines such as Qatar Airways play a supporting role by increasing its capacity will go a long way in assisting us to regain the international arrival numbers."

The national carrier plans to increase to over 130 destinations by the end of March 2021.