Qatar Airways looking to expand US presence

Qatar Airways this month begins service to the US with four flights per week to Newark Liberty International Airport from Doha, Qatar’s capital.

“We want to bridge the Middle East with the U.S.,” Qutar Airways ECO Al Baker said. Qatar hopes to bring in 1.5 million tourists by the next decade.

Mr Baker said Qutar will soon extend its US operations with non-stop flights to Washington, D.C.

The new service bumps Qatar Airways’ network of international destinations to 77.

Mr Baker told wire services that Americans still aren’t familiar with Qatar, but he predicted new destinations and an ever-increasing fleet would help distinguish it as a region for both business and leisure travelers.

The five-star carrier has been lauded for its first- and business-class amenities, which include flat beds and live TV (the airline claims to be the only carrier outside the US to have this feature). The airline also maintains a lavish first- and business-class terminal at Doha International Airport, which boasts a spa with saunas and Jacuzzis, a restaurant with complimentary food, a nursery, even bedrooms for travelers with longer layovers.

The airline, which launched in 1994, recently ordered 80 Airbus A350 aircrafts totaling $16 billion and 22 Boeing 777s, with deliveries of the later beginning in November. Qatar projects to have 115 total aircrafts in the fleet by 2015.

Qatar Airways also announced it and United Airlines had filed a joint application with the US Department of Transportation to place their codes on each other’s flight, which will help expands its US presence.

Report by David Wilkening