Qatar Airways Inaugurates Chongqing Connection

Qatar Airways has expanded operations in China with the launch of three times weekly flights to Chongqing, the airline’s fifth Chinese destination and 15th route start-up this year. The airline’s inaugural flight to the Chinese city touched down at Chongqing’s Jiangbei International Airport on November 30, where it received the now customary water salute from the Airport Fire Service. The Middle Eastern carrier already offers scheduled passenger links to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, as well as cargo services into China.

With Chongqing’s huge industrial catchment area in central western China, Qatar Airways believes there is a huge potential to operate to the city, which is currently largely underserved by the major international operators. Main local industries in Chongqing are centred on consumer goods and the processing of food, automobiles, chemicals, textiles and machinery.

The city is also the largest in China for the production of motorcycles and third biggest for motor vehicles and as a major manufacturing centre, Chongqing is a key transportation hub located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, a vitally important shipping waterway in China.