HE Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker has revealed eight new destinations to join the airlines network in 2020.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Kuwait Aviation Show, HE Al Baker said, "Eight new destinations will be joining our network this year in addition to the recently announced gateways of Santorini, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Osaka, Japan. With these new routes, our operations will expand to 177 destinations around the world, reinforcing our position as one of the worlds most connected airlines. This ensures we can continue to provide our passengers more options and flexibility when planning their business and leisure travel."

The new destinations include: Nur-Sultan and Almaty in Kazakhstan; Cebu in the Philippines; Accra in Ghana; Trabzon in Turkey; Luanda in Angola; Lyon in France and Siem Reap in Cambodia.

Qatar Airways will launch it new flights to Nur-Sultan starting March 30 with two weekly flights; Almaty on April 1 with two weekly flights, increasing to four weekly flights from 25 May 2020; Cebu starting April 8 with three weekly flights; Accra starting April 15 with daily flights; Trabzon starting May 20 with three weekly flights; Lyon starting June 23 with five weekly flights; Luanda on October 14 with four weekly flights and Siem Reap as of November 16 with five weekly flights.

During the press briefing, HE Al Baker highlighted the achievements made by Qatar Airways during the past year and its winning of many prestigious awards, noting that the number of passengers on Qatar Airways reached 29 million passengers in the fiscal year ending in March 2019.

In response to reporters' questions about the extent of the impact of the blockade imposed on Qatar on Qatar Airways, HE Al Baker underlined, "The impact of the blockade on Qatar Airways is zero, and we have continued to grow and to implement our strategy without being affected by the blockade."

Even financial losses are not a result of the blockade, but rather an increase in operating expenses as a result of increased flights. Airlines have margins of loss estimated between 3% to 8%, despite that fact, Qatar Airways' losses were less than half of expectations and achieved a growth rate in revenue of 20%, Al Baker explained.

HE Al Baker expected Qatar Airways to achieve profits in the fiscal year 2021-2022, even under the blockade.

He noted that Qatar Airways only relies on its revenue and the revenue of its investments in other airlines and hotels.

Regarding the impact of the Ukrainian plane accident in Iran on the airline's flights, Al Baker underlined that Qatar Airways' safety record is very strong and that the airline has not cancelled any reservation due to the tragic accident, which reflects the confidence of travelers in Qatar Airways.

Responding to questions on Qatar Airways continuing its flights to Iran, he stressed, "Iran is an important country for us, it is a neighbor, and we would like to continue to serve Iranian travelers

source: Qatar News Agency

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