Qatar Airways to start services on Chennai, Ahmedabad routes

Dubai, Dec 25 (UNI) Qatar Airways will add two more new destinations in India -- Chennai and Ahmedabad -- from April next year besides increasing frequencies to Kochi and Hyderabad and capacity to Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram.

Chief Executive Officer Akbar al-Baker unveiled the airline's Indian expansion plan yesterday indicating that the number of Indian destinations would go up to seven.

Qatar Airways now flies non-stop to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, an airline statement said.

Under the new bilateral civil aviation agreement between Qatar and India, the number of weekly flights would go up to 49 from 30, it said.

Al-Baker said there would be seven flights a week to Chennai and Ahmedabad, and the launch date would be announced later.

With immediate effect, he said, Qatar Airways would increase capacity on two of its prime routes -- Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram. It would also be increasing frequencies to Kochi and Hyderabad, with daily non-stop flights to and from Doha.

Currently, it flies five times to Kochi and four times to Hyderabad every week.

Under the Indian government's temporary open skies policy for winter 2006-07 that came into force from December 15, Qatar Airways had been granted rights to operate 42 flights a week till January 31.

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