News
Qatar Airways announces 14 new destinations for 2018-19
March 9th 2018
At this week’s ITB trade show in Berlin, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, announced the airline would launch 16 destinations in 2018-2019. Read More » They are Cardiff (May 1), London Gatwick (May 22), Tallinn, Lisbon, Malaga (June 4), Thessaloniki (March 27), Hatay (April 4), Valletta, Mykonos (May 30), Antalya (June 13), Da Nang, Davao, Langkawi, Cebu, Luxembourg and Bodrum (June 12).
At the Berlin press conference, Al Baker said “all these are destinations not previously announced”. This is not totally accurate. Cardiff, Lisbon, Malaga, Hatay, Mykonos and Thessaloniki were announced last year alongside flights to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Accra, Chittagong, Mombasa and Abidjan (which until now have not been scheduled).
The airline has added several destinations in the Asia-Pacific to its route map, including Canberra, Chiang Mai, U-Tapao and Penang.
Al Baker and Qatar Airways remain defiant about the “blockade” by Qatar’s Gulf neighbours. “They failed in intimidating my country, putting us against the wall, trying to take over our sovereignty, trying to dictate our foreign policy, trying to dictate who our friends should be,” he said in Toulouse last month.
“In every single aspect they failed. They made Qatar more independent, more resilient, more robust, and made Qatar stand six inches higher than any of those adversaries,” Al Baker added.
He upheld this stance in Berlin this week, but admitted the blockade is “putting a lot of financial strain” on the airline. “Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of Chapter 11 so we have to persevere and find additional financial streams and investments in order to continue our expansion even under the loss,” the Qatar Airways group chief said.
