JEDDAH: Qatar Airways yesterday advised passengers who are making their travel plans to book tickets early and pay cheaper fares. “Your fare can be cheaper by 25 to 30 percent if you book your seat online some months in advance,” Ahmed M. Al-Idrissi, Qatar Airways’ area manager for the Western Province, told reporters yesterday.
“Even if you book your seat a year in advance, you need to confirm it by purchasing your ticket only about a month before travel,” he said, reminding that the vacation season for schools is only a couple of months away, which will be followed by the peak seasons of Umrah and Haj, and booking a seat for a travel within a week or two can prove to be expensive in terms of the ticket cost.
“Our fares are competitive and among the most affordable although we are a five-star airline catering for all income groups,” he said while announcing that the airline has upgraded its frequency from Jeddah to its Doha hub from weekly five to seven. This means Qatar’s national carrier now operates a daily flight from the Kingdom’s commercial hub. In addition, its services from Riyadh have been increased from weekly three to five and its daily services to Dammam have been increased from one a day to 12 flights a week.
The airline, which marks its 12th anniversary in March and is introducing its daily service to Houston from Doha on March 30, has also announced a reduction in the fuel surcharge on flights in its international network offering passengers great savings. Passengers purchasing tickets to and from destinations served by the airline will be able to take advantage of the new lower supplements, he said.
The decrease in the fuel surcharge on short- and long-haul services in the airline’s global network follows an earlier reduction implemented by the airline in December on tickets for one-way and return flights from Doha, Al-Idrissi said, adding that the move reflects the return to stability in oil prices over the past few months following an unprecedented surge during 2008.
Qatar Airways operates a young and modern fleet of 67 Boeing and Airbus aircraft serving 83 key business and leisure cities across Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Far East and North America. The airline currently has outstanding orders for more than 200 aircraft worth over $40 billion. The airline welcomed its second Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft at a ceremony presided over by its CEO Akbar Al-Baker on Tuesday at Doha International Airport.
Asked whether the global financial crisis has impacted the airline, Al-Idrissi said: “We are not adversely impacted. The fact that we are introducing a new daily service to Houston, our 84th destination, and continue to expand both in terms of new aircraft and destinations proves the point.”
He mentioned that the carrier operates from Doha 17 flights a week to Pakistan, especially Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar, and 63 flights a week to India.
It has daily operations to major Indian cities, aside from the southern state of Kerala where it operates daily flights to Thiruvanantapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.