Doha: Qatar Airways yesterday announced inauguration of its seventh gateway into Saudi Arabia by adding the city of Al Ahsa to its network. The new route to Al Ahsa International Airport will comprise four weekly non-stop flights from the airline’s hub in Doha, and will increase the number of Qatar Airways’ weekly flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 75 to 79.
“We have offered our excellent global connectivity to customers from Saudi Arabia for more than 15 years, and with the introduction of this new route, we look forward to offering our five-star services and global connectivity to even more customers to and from Al Ahsa,” said Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways. “As we continue to expand our network and receive more aircraft, we will keep looking at opportunities to add capacity to our existing network and further strengthen our links within the Gulf,” he said.
The inaugural flight, which carried Qatar Airways dignitaries, was greeted with a traditional water cannon salute, and Naif Al Ghamidi, Al Ahsa Airport Director, led the welcoming committee.
The launch is part of the continued expansion of Qatar Airways’ services to Saudi Arabia which began in 1997 with non-stop flights to Jeddah. Since then, the airline has added Riyadh, Dammam, Madinah, Gassim and Tai’f to its portfolio of destinations within the Kingdom.
The new Al Ahsa route will be served by an Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration, with 12 seats in Business Class and 132 seats in Economy.
The Peninsula
