Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 19:

Qatar Airways (QA) has added two more routes this month with scheduled flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town, the airline’s first foray into South Africa. Qatar Airways, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, began Doha-Johannesburg flights from yesterday and again for the short flight to Cape Town.

Qatar Airways operates four flights a week between Qatar and both cities in South Africa, using an Airbus A330-200 in a two-class configuration of 24 seats in Business and 248 in Economy. The addition of South Africa takes Qatar Airways’ global network to 59 destinations. The new routes come just eight days after the airline began operating scheduled flights between Doha and Yangon, capital of Myanmar, in Southeast Asia. The award-winning airline operates an all-Airbus fleet of 40 aircraft, with plans to double its size over the next few years following a $5.1 billion order with Airbus for 34 additional planes. Qatar Airways is one of the launch customers of the A380 ‘super jumbos’ with two firm orders scheduled for delivery in 2009.