Manama: Qatar Airways is set to make its debut in Canada with the launch of scheduled flights to Montreal on June 29.
Canada's second largest city will be served with three-flights-a-week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays using the airline's flagship Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft.
The non-stop journey from the airline's hub in Doha to Montreal's Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport will be 13 hours and 20 minutes, the company said.
The destination marks Qatar Airways' first foray into Canada following a series of bilateral negotiations in Doha last year, when the airline secured rights to fly passenger and cargo flights to the country.
During a visit to Qatar last year, the Canadian Minister of International Trade, Peter Van Loan, revealed that the first Canadian Embassy in Qatar was expected to open in the capital Doha during Summer 2011. Van Loan said there were immense business opportunities tapping into Qatar's burgeoning economy. These include legal firms, engineering consultancies and construction companies.
Qatar is home to more than 3,000 Canadian citizens and two Canadian university satellite campuses, the College of the North Atlantic and the University of Calgary. Canadian nationals arriving in Qatar may enter the country without prior visa arrangements.
Passengers with Qatar as their end destination may enter by obtaining a visa on arrival, a service extended to 33 countries, with Canada being one of them, Qatari daily The Peninsula reported on Monday.
The province of Quebec's capital city becomes the airline's fourth destination in North America.
"We are announcing another new chapter in our remarkable short history with a move into Canada and strengthening our North American operations," said Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer.
