Qatar Airways will begin thrice-weekly flights to and from Chengdu, a major economic centre of western China, from September 3. The flights will be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The Doha – Chengdu route will also celebrate 10 years of Qatar Airways services in China since 2003. Chengdu will join Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chongqing as the airline’s sixth gateway into China.
Qatar Airways will fly to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport using an Airbus A330 in a two-class configuration of up to 248 seats in economy and up to 36 in business class.
“The new service is part of the airline’s commitment to boost services to the Far East and Asia Pacific,” said Akbar al-Baker, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways. “China is one of our key markets and we are excited to further expand our footprint in China, allowing us to provide greater options for business and leisure travellers ready to take advantage of new flights to and from another entry point in China.”
The launch of Qatar Airways in Chengdu will give easy access to tourist and business travellers in China to France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Middle East, all served by Qatar Airways. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport now offers a 72-hour visa-free transit to over 45 different countries. As such, the Chengdu route is set to become a modern “Silk Road”, connecting western China to over 125 destinations worldwide via Doha, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.
“We are pleased to introduce Chengdu as our sixth and newest China’s gateway and look forward to welcoming travellers from Chengdu to fly with us to many parts of the world and, similarly welcome visitors from around the world to this great city,” al-Baker said.
Qatar Airways has so far launched six destinations this year Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Najaf (Iraq), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Chicago (USA), Salalah (Oman) and Basra (Iraq).
Over the next few months, the network will expand with the addition of further destinations – Sulaymaniyah, Iraq (August 20), Chengdu, China (September 3), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (September 18), Clark International Airport, Philippines (October 27) and Philadelphia, USA (2 April 2014).