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| Qatar Airways |
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (Arabic: Qatariyah), operating as Qatar Airways, is the flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, it operates a hub-and-spoke network, linking over 100 international destinations from its base in Doha, using a fleet of 96 aircraft. It is one of only seven airlines awarded 5-star rating by Skytrax along with Cathay Pacific, Asiana Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Hainan Airlines, and Kingfisher Airlines.
Qatar Airways operates services across Africa, Central Asia, Europe, Far East, South Asia, Middle East, North America, South America and Oceania.
Qatar Airways is currently undergoing a major expansion and is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. The airline also operates one of the youngest fleets in the world (an average of less than 4.1 years).
The airline employs more than 19,000 people. 13,000 employees work for the airline directly while the other 6,000 work in the airline's subsidiaries.
Qatar Airways was established on November 22, 1993. The airline started its operations on January 20, 1994 using a wet-leased Boeing 767-200ER from Kuwait Airways. It was originally owned by private members of the royal family of Qatar. However, it was re-launched in 1997, under a new management team. Currently, the Government of Qatar holds 50% stake of Qatar Airways and the rest is held by private investors. Over the years, Qatar Airways has grown into one of the most competitive airlines in the world.
Qatar Airways has launched 9 new destinations during 2010, with one more destination coming up. These new destinations include Ankara, Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Hanoi, Nice, Phuket, São Paulo and Tokyo. These new routes bring the number of destinations Qatar Airways serves from 85 to 95 worldwide.
Destinations
As of January 31, 2011 Qatar Airways serves 99 destinations and Qatar Airways Cargo serves 19 (including 15 destinations served by Qatar Airways also) destinations in 55 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania from its hub at Doha International Airport. It is one of the few airlines to fly to all six permanently inhabited continents. The other carriers are Air France, British Airways, Delta, Emirates, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, South African and United.
Previously operated
Qatar Airways formerly operated the following aircraft:
- Boeing 767-200ER: 1 wetleased for few days from Kuwait Airways. First aircraft to be operated by Qatar Airways. Aircraft line number 131 (registration marks 9K-AIA). Aircraft was wet-leased due to delay in delivery of the first leased A310-200 from Airbus Leasing.
- Airbus A310-200: 2 leased from Airbus Leasing. From Jan 1994 to June 1995 (Registration A7-ABA and ABB).
- Boeing 737-200Adv: 1 Short term wet-leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic/Lufthansa in Oct 1994 for 1 month.
- Boeing 727-200Adv: 6 from May 1995 to 1999. First aircraft type purchased by airline on May 2, 1995 (two from Emirates Airlines). (Registration A7-ABC, ABD, ABE, ABF, and ABG). 1 leased from Yemenia in February 1995 for a short term.
- Boeing 747SR-81 (747-100BSR): 2 purchased from Boeing; ex-All Nippon Airways. Operated from June 1995 to Mar 1999. (Registration A7-ABK and ABL).
- Boeing 757-200: 1 leased for a short term from Royal Brunei Airlines in Nov 1997.
- Airbus A300-600R: 7 leased from AWAS over various periods of time starting from March 1997 to Feb 2007. Two A300-600 aircraft converted to freighter for use by Qatar Airways Cargo.