Qatar Airways hosts press conference in Canberra

Al Baker highlighted the airline’s robust expansion plans, as well as its commitment to bringing more travellers to Australia, and to connecting Canberrans to its extensive global network via the award-winning Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha.

“We are tremendously excited to launch our new daily service to Canberra, our fifth destination in Australia. Having inaugurated flights to Adelaide and Sydney in 2016, we quickly realised the need for further expansion of our footprint in Australia, and what better place than the capital, Canberra?

“This new daily service will without doubt offer our Australian passengers more convenience and an extensive choice of destinations on our global network, as they transit through our award-winning hub, Hamad International Airport.”

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who welcomed the arrival of the second international airline to service the capital, said: “It is wonderful to have Qatar Airways make the decision to come to Canberra in 2018 – a year in which our city was recognised as the third best city in the world to visit by Lonely Planet.”

Canberra Airport managing director,  Stephen Byron, added: “We appreciate Qatar Airways’ strong support for the nation’s capital. An airline of this stature will further boost Canberra’s reputation as a leading tourist destination, on the back of record numbers of international visitors coming in 2017, and Lonely Planet nominating the city as a top three destination for 2018.”

The launch of a daily service to Canberra increases the airline’s number of flights a week into the country to 42. Qatar Airways already operates a daily service to Adelaide, Melbourne Perth and Sydney. The Canberra service will also stop in Sydney, where passengers can disembark, creating a second daily flight into the popular destination.