Qatar Airways celebrates the arrival of its inaugural flight from Doha to Sydney

A delegation of VIPs from Qatar, including Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, were met from the aircraft by Sydney Airport managing director and chief executive officer, Kerrie Mather; Official Secretary to the Governor of New South Wales, Colonel Michael Miller RFD; Destination NSW chairman, John Hartigan; and Tourism Australia managing director, John O'Sullivan. 

The airline now operates a Boeing 777-300 daily from Doha to Sydney. 

Al Baker said: “Touching down here in Sydney for the first time today is an important milestone for Qatar Airways and for the people of Australia. We are delighted to be able to offer passengers flying from Sydney the opportunity to connect to more than 150 places on our global network via our state-of-the-art airport in Doha. We look forward to taking the people of Sydney to the places they want to go on our modern aircraft, and giving them a taste of the Arabian hospitality and comfort that earned us the aviation industry’s most prestigious title of Skytrax Airline of the Year in 2015. 

“I would like to personally thank Sydney Airport and city authorities for welcoming us today and we look forward to strengthening our relationship with them and the people of Australia in the coming years as we all go places together.” 

NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events, Stuart Ayres said: “I am delighted to welcome the first Qatar Airways flight to Sydney, which will provide a valuable increase in aviation capacity from the Middle East and greater connectivity to Sydney and regional NSW, particularly for travellers flying from the United Kingdom and Europe via Doha. 

“Through our tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, we look forward to working with Qatar Airways and the opportunity to showcase our beautiful city, award-winning restaurants, stunning beaches and surrounding NSW regions to customers of one of the world’s fastest growing airlines.”