Qatar Airways to expand operations in India

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Dubai, August 7:: Following the lead of other Gulf carriers, Qatar Airways has announced its expansion into India with the launch of new flights to Nagpur and Ahmedabad, taking the airline's network of cities served across the country to eight.

Starting September 23, the Doha-based carrier will launch twice-weekly flights to Nagpur and on December 12, it will start daily operations between Doha and Ahmedabad, a statement by the airline said.

Both routes will be operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said India was a key part of the airline's growth strategy, reflected by the fact that it currently has the most number of destinations than any other country in the network.

Al Baker applauded the opening up of India's aviation industry to more domestic and international competition which, he said, was good for the consumer. Bilateral relations between Qatar and India, he said, were strengthening and the additional routes only reinforced the commitment between both countries to step up their ties.

Qatar Airways currently operates 42 flights a week to six cities across India -- seven services a week to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin, Triruvananthapuram and Hyderabad. The addition of Nagpur and Ahmedabad takes the airline's Indian capacity from 42 services a week to 51 across eight cities.

Earlier this year, Etihad Airways marked India as its top focus, and announced plans for additional frequencies to busy routes such as Delhi and Mumbai. It also added new routes to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram in June, and plans to begin flights to Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.