Qatar Airways strengthens perfect safety record

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Mr Akbar Al Baker launched the ground services quality assurance program as the airline held its two-day Airport Manager's Conference, at the Sheraton Hotel Doha.

"Qatar Airways has always made safety one of its top priorities, and I am pleased to announce that Qatar Airways has a perfect safety record in the sky," said Mr Al Baker.

"We're now implementing a program for our ground services that will ensure we maintain the high quality of our ground operations.

"Qatar Airways is growing at a staggering rate, and we want to ensure that our attention to safety remains high and vigilant.

"What an airline does on the ground can have ramifications for what can occur in the air. This program will ensure the quality of our safety procedures on the ground remain water-tight, particularly as we continue to grow," said Mr Al Baker.

Around 60 Qatar Airways delegates from airports around Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Far East are meeting in Doha today and tomorrow as part of the Airport Managers Conference.

Airline safety is a major theme of the conference. The delegates will be briefed on the new quality assurance program for ground services.

Building on a reputation of premium customer service, Qatar Airways has launched a growth plan to ensure that it can offer people a greater choice of destinations, flights and the latest inflight products and services.

As part of this growth plan, Qatar Airways will extend its route network to 50 destinations by the end of 2003. It presently flies to 40 destinations. It has recently announced the addition of Manchester, Rome, and Moscow to its increasing route network.

Qatar Airways is also increasing its fleet. It presently has 24 new Airbus aircraft, which will increase to 28 by the end of this year. Qatar Airways recently announced that it would take delivery of a long range A319 corporate jetliner. It is also one of the launch customers for the A380 'super jumbo' in 2007.

Qatar Airways also operates a number of subsidiary companies including: Qatar Aviation Services, Qatar Aviation Catering Company, Qatar Airways Holidays, Doha International Airport, and Qatar Duty Free.