Qatar Airways unveils 3 new routes for 2012

Dubai: Qatar Airways is getting ready to launch three new routes this year - in Africa, Europe and Australia, in line with its aggressive expansion strategy, it said yesterday in a statement.

The Doha-based carrier will expand its African network with scheduled services to the Rwandan capital Kigali starting on March 21. It will further boost its European portfolio with the launch of flights to the Croatian capital of Zagreb starting May 9. And from July 3, the carrier will add Perth as its second route in Australia.

Plans are also underway to begin flights to Zanzibar (Tanzania), Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Mombasa (Kenya) and Helsinki (Finland), the carrier stated, adding that its 2012 route expansion programme starts on February 1 with new services to the south eastern European cities of Baku and Tbilisi in Azerbaijan and Georgia, respectively.

Last year saw Qatar Airways' expansion focused on Europe with the introduction of seven new routes - Bucharest, Budapest, Brussels, Stuttgart, Venice, Sofia and Oslo, taking its European capacity to 27 destinations.

The airline's CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said in a statement that Qatar Airways was expanding on different continents as part of its "aggressive growth strategy" to open up new routes to key business and leisure destinations.

"In keeping with our highly focused and tailored growth strategy to enter underserved and thriving markets all over the world, the latest additions very much match our plans to open up a host of new destinations," he said.

With orders worth over $50 billion for more than 250 aircraft, Qatar Airways currently operates services to 110 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America with a fleet of 104 aircraft. The carrier said it has plans to serve over 120 destinations worldwide with a fleet of more than 120 aircraft by 2013.