Akbar Al Baker, Chairman of Qatar Airways, is rarely modest when he talks about the group he has been running for some fifteen years now. If he is not short of superlatives for his company, it is not without objective reason. Because, it has to be said, rarely in the history of air transport has a carrier grown so fast and so well. Between the start of 2016 and the start of the 2017 IATA summer season - which begins in March - Qatar Airways is preparing to open around 15 new destinations from Doha, taking its network to 158 destinations. At the same time, the airline's fleet is set to grow to a respectable 177 aircraft.
Qatar Airways' expansion is based on a systematic coverage of all major economic cities, a strategy that increasingly includes so-called 'secondary' destinations. In addition to major cities such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston and Sydney, the new routes for 2016-2017 include Nice, Birmingham and Pisa in Europe, Luanda and Douala in Africa, Yerevan and Ras Al Khaimah in Asia and Adelaide in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand. When it opens, this route to New Zealand's economic capital will enable the airline to set a new record for flight time, with some 17h30. "We'll be flying around twenty minutes longer than our competitors at Emirates (editor's note: which launched a direct Dubai-Auckland route in A380s at the beginning of March), because Qatar is located a little further north-west than Dubai", says the airline's CEO.
Among the future destinations proposed by Qatar Airways, some could even be considered marginal on a global scale, at least in economic terms. Next winter, Qatar Airways will land in Chiang Mai and Krabi in Thailand and probably in Siem Reap/Angkor, the opening of the latter route depending on the delivery of the appropriate aircraft. Asked whether it makes sense to serve Chiang Mai or Krabi in Thailand - holiday destinations with seasonal traffic - Akbar Al Baker retorts that if these routes are seasonal, it is because of supply and not demand... "We are going to create this demand", he asserts.
At the same time, the carrier will continue to expand its fleet. The airline has placed an order for 80 Airbus A350s and will be the launch carrier for versions 37-900 and 43-1000. The airline will operate the aircraft in a dual-class configuration, business and economy. To mark the occasion, Qatar Airways will launch a new business class, which will be officially presented in November and will equip the Airbus A350 and Airbus A380 in 2017. A product that Akbar Al Baker considers revolutionary. "The new seat will equip our entire business class, but it will have all the features of a First seat. It will offer such a high level of comfort and innovation that the company has decided to patent the seat. In the past, we've seen the competition acquire our seat for their own needs. If they decide to do the same, they'll have to pay us royalties from now on!
Finally, another project on the horizon is the expansion of the terminal at Hamad International Airport. With a double-digit growth rate, the new terminal should very quickly reach its saturation point of 30 million passengers. As a result, work has just begun on extending the terminal to handle 70 million passengers. "We have asked Sir Norman Foster to work on the new terminal design. The terminal will include, among other things, a dedicated entrance for premium traffic, an 8,000 m2 interior garden and a new shopping area. Once again, I believe that we will offer an exceptional product when it comes into service in 2021", says the CEO of Qatar Airways.
