Qatar Airways may launch budget carrier

While the airlines world over are scaling down operations and trimming costs to grapple with soaring fuel prices, Qatar Airways still seems optimistic about its plans to launch a budget carrier.

Reiterating his statement to Emirates Business in May 2008, the chief executive of Doha-based carrier, Akbar Al Baker, said yesterday that Qatar Airways could launch a low-cost carrier. "But that is if we feel the airline's market share is being threatened by other carriers," he said. "We already have registered a name for the low-cost carrier, and have aircraft ready for the budget carrier. We will look to offer better and lower prices than others. And we would be able to do that in a painless way."

He said Qatar Airways would launch the budget carrier in 90 days "from the time I feel the pain of other carriers eating into my share. I am against the idea of a low-cost carrier. Joining the bandwagon would not be because I am for the idea. It is for me to pre-empt what someone else is doing to hurt my market share."

Earlier in May Al-Baker had said: "We will not be tying up with any low-cost airline. If the influx of low-cost carriers into the market is going to hurt my market share, we will launch our own low-cost carrier. We will not stay quiet."

At present, there are three budget carriers that operate out of Qatar, including Sharjah-based Air Arabia, India's Air India Express and Bahrain Air.