Qatar Airways Launches Second Destination in Sultanate of Oman

Doha, May 26 (QNA) - Qatar Airways has commenced services to Salalah, joining Muscat as the airline's second destination in the Sultanate of Oman. Salalah, south of the Arabian Peninsula, becomes the Doha-based airline's fifth new route of the year taking the carrier's global reach to 127 destinations. With the Omani capital Muscat already served 31-times-a-week and the new four-a-week services to Salalah, Qatar Airways now flies a total of 35 services to the Sultanate each week. The latest destination also heralds the first of three new Middle East routes to be launched by the carrier over the next few weeks with two Iraqi cities joining the network. Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the launch of Salalah flights demonstrated the strengthening relationship between the State of Qatar and the Sultanate. "We are extremely delighted to have added the highly popular leisure destination of Salalah to our international network and extend our award-winning service to the people of Salalah and the Dhofar region," he said. "As one of the most beautiful places in the Gulf, affectionately known as the Perfume Capital of Arabia, Salalah has tremendous appeal for visitors across the Gulf, Europe, the United States and many other countries, steeped in history, culture and natural beauty. Already welcoming thousands of tourists every year, we look forward to playing our part to help further boost leisure and business tourism here and also provide travellers from Salalah with easy connections to more than 120 destinations worldwide via our Doha hub." Qatar Airways, one of the worlds fastest growing airlines, has seen rapid growth in just 16 years of operations, currently flying a modern fleet of 124 aircraft to 127 key destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and The Americas, including Chicago, the airline's newest point introduced on April 10. Over the next few weeks and months, Qatar Airways will launch scheduled flights to a diverse portfolio of new routes, including Basra, Iraq (June 3); Sulaymaniyah, Iraq (August 20); Chengdu, China (September 3); Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (September 18); Clark Airport, Philippines (October 28) and Philadelphia, USA (2 April 2014). (QNA)