Qatar Air chief calls out ‘bullying’ US airlines
Friday, 25 Apr, 2017
0
Qatar Airways chief Akbar al-Baker has cranked up his war of words with US airlines accusing them of ‘bullying’ but still remains bullish on the US market.
The airline will continue to expand and announced a new route to San Francisco.
Qatar will begin the service sometime in 2018 but gave no other details.
"We didn’t have massive decline like other carriers so we still have robust loads to the United States and we will continue our commitment to our passengers in the United States," Al Baker told the AP.
"President Trump is a wise individual and a very good businessman, and I don’t think he will buy into bullying by the three American carriers," he added on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
Referring to US airlines’ continued calls for the US government to take action against Gulf carriers, al-Baker said: "Two US administrations, under Mr Obama and Mr Trump, have now looked at this and found nothing. They [the US carriers] only operate routes where they can swindle their customers, they do not represent the United States."
The San Francisco route is part of a dozen new routes for the Doha-based airline.
"The U.S. is not the entire world. We have a lot of other opportunities, a lot of other new markets which we will keep expanding to."
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Clearing CSS/JS assets' cache... Please wait until this notice disappears...
Updating... Please wait...
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt