Doha,  Qatar Airways’ 2012 expansion programme is active after the carrier launched scheduled daily flights to Tbilisi, Georgia via Baku, Azerbaijan on February 1.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker led a delegation on the Baku and Tbilisi inaugural flight QR976, including Eldar Salimov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the State of Qatar; Ekaterine Meiering-Mikadze, Ambassador of Georgia to the State of Qatar; Abdul Razzaq Al Abdul Ghani, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Turkey and Georgia; international media and airline executives.

Addressing guests at the ceremony, Al Baker said Azerbaijan’s developing tourism industry and energy resources were key factors in Qatar Airways’ decision to start operations there.

“We assessed Azerbaijan as a destination with great potential that would create a new air corridor providing wider choices for both leisure and business travellers..Azerbaijan’s rich energy resources offer great business opportunities, and a landscape that provides a good base for family and independent tourism... As well as enabling visitors from around the world to visit Baku, we also look forward to providing Azerbaijanis with the opportunity to fly to global destinations on Qatar Airways via our Doha hub... As the only Five Star airline flying to Baku, Qatar Airways is proud to bring its award-winning service to the people of Azerbaijan.” he stressed.

Flight QR976 continued to its final destination, Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi, at Tbilisi International Airport.

Qatar Airways Al Baker addresses guests in Tbilisi upon touch-down of Qatar Airways flight QR976 at TAV Georgia International Airport.

“Tbilisi becomes Qatar Airways’ 112th destination worldwide and it gives me great pleasure to celebrate our arrival here....We sincerely look forward to growing this route with additional capacity in the future and we look forward to welcoming more destinations into our ever increasing European network,” said Al Baker.

As part of its 2012 expansion drive, Qatar Airways will launch flights to seven further destinations – Kigali (Rwanda) from March 21; Zagreb (Croatia) from May 9; Perth (Australia) from July 3; with dates yet to be announced for other new routes – Mombasa (Kenya), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Helsinki (Finland), and Gassim (Saudi Arabia).

Source: Qatar Airways