Qatar Airways launches flights to Kolkata
Friday 29, July 2011
Qatar Airways has further expanded its rapidly growing global network with the launch yesterday of daily flights to Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, India’s second largest city and to many, its cultural and intellectual capital.
As the former capital of British India, Kolkata grew from swampy villages on the Ganges delta to now boast a wealth of crumbling colonial buildings and monuments, elegant boulevards and formal gardens, in addition to the vibrantly chaotic street scenes more typical of the Indian subcontinent.
There is an engaging blend of rural and urban, parties and festivals, colours, lights, smells and tastes in the city, where despite a rich mix of creeds and cultures, Kolkata’s 16 million inhabitants share a passion for their fruity Bengali cuisine and all things sweet. The incessant honking of traffic, jangly Indian pop, church bells, calls to prayer, and the haggling of rickshaw drivers and traders all make the magnificently muddled Kolkata a wondrous city to behold.
The new route takes Qatar Airways’ capacity in India to 95 services a week across 12 destinations and comes hot on the heels of Qatar Airways winning “Airline of the Year” at the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards 2011.
Other destinations in India on Qatar Airways’ global network are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru (Bangalore), Chennai, Kochi (Cochin), Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kozhikode, Mumbai (Bombay) and Thiruvananthapuram.
“The new Kolkata service becomes our 12th gateway city in India, reflecting our commitment to connect key business and leisure cities around the world via our Doha hub,” said Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker. “Qatar Airways has strategically positioned itself as a global connector flying passengers seamlessly across continents, from East to West in comfort and style, with award-winning service onboard that will continue to impress the British market.”
In addition to its new Kolkata service, Qatar Airways launched a second daily flight from Manchester to Doha in June, giving Northern passengers greater choice to travel onto the wide range of flights operated by Qatar Airways across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Far East and Australia.
Qatar Airways recently launched flights to the historic cities of Shiraz (Iran) and Medina (Saudi Arabia), and from November 2 will fly directly to Entebbe in Uganda. The airline has also recently increased capacity and frequency to popular destinations such as Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Muscat (Oman), Singapore, Guangzhou (China) and the Seychelles providing increased flexibility for travellers to and from Manchester and Heathrow.
By 2013, Qatar Airways plans to serve more than 120 key business and leisure destinations worldwide with a modern fleet of over 120 aircraft.
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