RIYADH, 5 March — Qatar Airways is to start two weekly flights to Riyadh from next month, the carrier announced on Sunday. The airline will also add Casablanca in Morocco and the northern Italian city of Milan to its network, raising the number of destinations it serves to 33.
The airline will fly twice a week to Riyadh starting April 1, three times a week to Casablanca from May 31 and four times a week to Milan from June 16, said chief executive officer Akbar Al-Baqer.
Baqer added that the first of five A330-200s ordered from European consortium Airbus was due for delivery in May, the second in July, the third and fourth in March 2003 and the fifth in February 2004.
“This is only part of a very comprehensive and challenging plan to expand our operations by 60 percent and to increase our fleet to 25 aircraft by the end of 2004,” Baqer told a press conference in Doha. The carrier, founded in 1994 and owned equally by the government and private investors, operates an exclusively Airbus fleet and was a launch customer for the A380 superjumbo.
Qatar also has a quarter share in the Manama-based Gulf Air, along with Bahrain, Oman and the Abu Dhabi government.
