Ankara: Qatar Airways has finalised plans for its low-cost carrier, but it will not launch it until it faces threats of losing revenues to other budget airlines in the region, said a top airline official.
"We already have our plan for the low-cost carrier ready, but we are holding it back. The plan is complete," said Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways.
"We will launch the budget airline if there is a major dent in our revenue," he said, adding that other budget airlines flying to Doha have not had any major impact on the revenues of Qatar Airways.
Qatar Airways' inaugural flight landed on Monday at Ankara's Esenboga International Airport, the 88th destination for the airline. The flight will also provide convenient connections to passengers from the UAE via Doha.
Asked about the sustainability of his massive expansion plans, he said they are the second-largest carrier in the Gulf after Emirates and that the carrier's expansion is based on a comprehensive business study. "We have been witnessing some 35 per cent growth every year and we will continue to grow with the addition of more destinations and more aircraft," he added.
On viability, Al Baker said: "We don't fly anything but passengers. We are not flying to destinations just to show our aircraft but there is a demand."
The airline carried 12 million passengers in the 2008-09 financial year (April-March) and is expecting to carry 14 million in fiscal year 2010-11.
Consolidation
"With the launching of the Doha-Ankara route we have further consolidated our presence in Turkey," Al Baker said at the inaugural ceremony at the airport. The airline will operate four weekly flights on this route and is already operating seven weekly flights to Istanbul.
He said that commercial ties between the two countries have enjoyed major growth recently.
"Bilateral trade has increased from $21 million [Dh77.2 million] in 2007 to more than $1.2 billion in 2008 and it is set to increase to $10 billion by 2015," Al Baker said.
Adding new destinations
Qatar Airways has said it will add seven new destinations until June this year. "We are planning to add another eight routes by March next year but we will announce the destinations later," Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways, said.
The airline will operate a fleet of 120 aircraft by 2013 — almost double the present size.
This year, apart from the Ankara link, the airline started flights to Bangalore on February 22 and Copenhagen on March 30, while it will fly to Tokyo on April 26, Barcelona on June 7, and Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires on June 24.
