Qatar Airways is set to increase its destinations list to hit a huge 250 by 2022. This will be in the form of 220 destinations for passengers, and 30 for cargo. If you consider that currently Qatar Airways flies to just 162 destinations, that’s a pretty massive increase in a fairly short time.
CEO constantly pushing forward
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker is well known for moving the airline onward and upwards (quite literally) and so this new plan really comes as no surprise. There always seems to be something new and innovative coming from Qatar Airways, such as the recent World Cup branded Boeing 777. Expect to see more of this when the World Cup is hosted by Qatar in 2022 with Qatar Airways being one of the major sponsors of this massive event.
More destinations means more planes
Of course with so many new destinations added into the network, the airline is going to need to expand its fleet which currently consists of 218 planes.
Is Qatar simply unaffected by the blockade?
The political blockade banning the flight of Qatari aircraft within the airspace of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain is still in full force. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this could signal the end for Qatar Airways, or at least a massive fall in profits as many flights are taking long diversions around these countries. Qatar Airways seems to be able to cope with anything the world throws at it, even something this huge and majorly inconvenient. Certainly, if the airline was struggling, we wouldn’t be seeing such rapid expansion and great plans for the future from Qatar Airways. It’s perhaps unfair to suggest that Qatar has been unaffected by the blockade, and rather more important to highlight how fantastically the airline copes under pressure, moving forward and rethinking its strategies constantly. CEO Al Baker has stated that the airline has a strong cash reserve, enough to sustain any losses for several years.
So where are these new destinations?
Qatar Airways has recently announced that they plan to be the first Gulf carrier to offer a direct service to Luxembourg. Other destinations in the pipeline are believed to be Vietnam, Tallinn, Philippines, Malaysia, Malta, Estonia, Valletta, Cebu, Langkawi and Davao.
Based in Barcelona when she’s not traveling, Jen is a travel blogger and photographer. She loves inspiring people to travel and discover the world. An ex-flight attendant, Jen has expertise in the airline industry.
