Qatar Airways to fly to Hanoi, expand HCMC services

Qatar Airways has announced a massive expansion plan for its Vietnam operations by opening a new route to Hanoi and increasing flight frequencies to HCMC from November, more than three years of being active in Vietnam.
Qatar Airways said in a statement that it would launch four weekly services between Qatar’s capital of Doha and Hanoi via Bangkok on November 1, and add three flights to its weekly schedule for the Doha-HCMC route.
The carrier plans to fly to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and to operate the three extra flights to HCMC via Bangkok on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
In March 2007, Qatar Airways commenced its four weekly non-stop direct flights between Doha and this economic hub of Vietnam on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, using Airbus A330 aircraft.
Marwan Koleilat, Senior Vice President Commercial East Asia and Southwest Pacific, said Vietnam was a key growth market for the airline, which was recently voted by the airline service research firm Skytrax as the Best Airline in the Middle East for the fifth consecutive year.
Koleilat said Qatar Airways was expanding in Vietnam as the country was experiencing rapid economic development. “The new route to Hanoi and the boosting of our HCMC flights to daily services demonstrate the confidence that Qatar Airways has in Vietnam.”
Qatar Airways’ expansion will boost its weekly services to 11 from Vietnam to Doha and vice versa. Koleilat said these flights would not only bring more tourists to Vietnam, who contribute to the country’s economy, but also provide the traveling public with access to a growing global network.
The new route to Hanoi is one of the six that Qatar Airways will open over four months starting October this year. The carrier will conduct daily flights from Doha to Thailand’s Phuket via Kuala Lumpur from October 11, as well as launch services to Bucharest of Romania, Nice of France, Brussels of Belgium and Budapest of Hungary.
The new international routes will expand Qatar Airways’ flight network to more than 95 destinations by January 2011. By 2013, the airline will serve 120 key business and leisure destinations worldwide with a modern fleet of 120.
Currently, Qatar Airways uses 84 aircraft of different types for flights to 90 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and North America. Since February this year, the airline has launched new routes to Bengaluru in Bangalore of India, Copenhagen of Denmark, Ankara of Turkey, Tokyo of Japan and Barcelona of Spain.
From June 24, Qatar Airways will start services to the South American continent, with scheduled daily flights planned for Sao Paulo in Brazil and the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. Qatar Airways said passengers boarding its flights in Vietnam were offered convenient connecting flights from Doha to destinations throughout the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North and South America.
Skytrax recently voted Qatar Airways as having the best Business Class service and catering in the world based on its annual survey of 18 million international passengers.