Qatar Airways eyes aggressive growth in Europe

Qatar Airways will increase operations into Germany next year with scheduled services to Stuttgart and greater capacity to Munich.

Stuttgart, to be served three-times-a-week, will be the Doha-based carrier's fourth destination in Germany and will begin on March 9. At the same time, the airline will increase frequency on the Doha-Munich route from daily flights to 11 weekly services using an Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft.

The carrier already serves Berlin daily and Frankfurt with 10-flights-a-week.

Over the next few months, Qatar Airways will embark on a huge European expansion drive with the launch of flights to Nice, Budapest, Bucharest and Brussels over a 10 week-period from November 2010 to January 2011.

By March next year, Qatar Airways will operate 182 flights a week to cities across Europe, one of the carrier's key global markets.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: "...Securing Stuttgart and stepping up frequency to Munich, one of our most popular German routes, is a great boon for the airline.

"Qatar Airways has a busy few months ahead with Europe figuring strongly in our expansion plans, clearly demonstrating our commitment to this part of the world."

Meanwhile, the airline will add a third daily flight to Bangkok, Thailand effective November 1. The carrier recently said it was also going to introduce six-flights-a-week to Phuket, via Kuala Lumpur starting October 12.

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