Qatar Airways has expanded South American connectivity and has also increased its A350 fleet.
Qatar Airways has increased its Airbus A350 fleet to 53. The national carrier of the State of Qatar is the largest operator of Airbus A350 aircraft with 34 A350-900 and 19 A350-1000.
“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we continue to invest in our fleet, operating the youngest, most fuel-efficient and technologically advanced aircraft in the skies. This strategic investment in sustainable twin-engine aircraft has enabled us to continue flying during the most challenging year in aviation’s history, helping take over 3.1 million people home since the start of the pandemic. As global travel recovers, our passengers can rely on us to fly greener and smarter with more flights to more destinations via the Best Airport in the Middle East, Hamad International Airport.”
said Mr. Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive, Qatar Airways in a press release.
Qatar Airways is fully utilising its fleet of 53 A350 aircraft to more than 45 destinations in the airline’s network, including Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, New York, Paris, Sao Paolo and Singapore.
The airline has also expanded South American connectivity
The Doha-based carrier has signed an expanded codeshare agreement with LATAM Airlines Brasil that will see its code placed on 45 additional LATAM Airlines Brasil flights which will enhance connectivity across Brazil to and from destinations such as Curitiba, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Luiz & Vitoria. Qatar Airways owns a 10% stake in the South American carrier.
The increased codeshare agreement comes after around 7 months after LATAM left the OneWorld alliance. Interestingly, the airline will launch a new route to Seattle route later this month. This comes ahead of Alaska Airlines joining the Oneworld alliance later this year. Alaska Airlines and Qatar Airways have signed a code-share agreement in recent months.
“South America is a strategically important market for Qatar Airways. We are proud to demonstrate our strong commitment to passengers travelling to and from South America by providing even more flexible travel options. By increasing São Paulo services to 10 weekly flights and expanding our codeshare agreement with LATAM Airlines Brasil, we will further cement our position as the airline of choice for customers travelling between Asia, the Middle East and South America. Since 2016, both Qatar Airways and LATAM Airlines Brasil have witnessed the significant mutual benefits commercial cooperation have brought, providing our passengers with unrivalled service and seamless connectivity and it is why our codeshare cooperation has been expanded twice in recent years. We look forward to further strengthening our commercial cooperation with LATAM Airlines Brasil to enhance the travel experience for our millions of customers.”
said Mr. Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive, Qatar Airways in a press release.
The expanded codeshare agreement will allow Qatar Airways passengers to book travel on 45 additional LATAM Airlines Brasil flights and to access over 40 domestic and international destinations on the South American carrier’s network, including Brasilia, Rio-de-Janeiro and Santiago.
“We are expanding connectivity and the choice of destinations for our customers. Even in a year as difficult as 2020, we are committed to offering our passengers more options to travel further with greater convenience and simplicity.”
said Mr. Jerome Cadier, CEO, LATAM Brasil.
Recently, Qatar Airways has announced a code-share agreement with China Southern Airlines and also expanded code-share with Oman Air.
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