Qatar Airways adds Phuket to its network

Qatar Airways has launched its second destination in Thailand following the commencement of scheduled flights to Phuket.

The Thai holiday resort island becomes the airline’s 93rd destination and the eighth new route launched by Qatar Airways so far in 2010. The flights operate from Doha to Phuket via Kuala Lumpur and are scheduled to provide connections from several of Qatar Airways’ key markets in Europe, which form the bulk of tourist traffic to the holiday island.

The Phuket services are part of an overall capacity increase to Thailand, which sees Qatar Airways boost its Doha – Bangkok frequencies from twice daily flights to triple daily effective from November 1.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said that the airline’s route to Thailand’s largest island reinforced the airline’s commitment to target underserved markets. “Visitor numbers to Phuket are on the rise and Qatar Airways will look to take advantage of our European connections from countries like Russia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the UK and other parts of Europe to bring them to Phuket. Foreign visitors are expected to top 4.5 million in 2010 and with only a handful of airlines offering flights from Europe, the opportunity is there for us to acquire market share,” said Al Baker.