Qatar Airways announces new Osaka schedules

The airline will operate four flights a week non-stop between its operational hub of Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, and Japan's commercial centre of Osaka.

The Osaka service marks Qatar Airways' first foray into the Japanese market and the route is expected to help meet demand from business and leisure travellers between the Middle East and Japan.

Osaka is also the first new route of Qatar Airways' summer 2005 flying programme - and the 60th destination on the airline's growing global map.

The Japanese city is Qatar Airways' 11th Far East destination that already covers Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Manila, Cebu, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Yangon and Jakarta.

The Osaka route will be operated with the modern Airbus A330-200 in a three-class configuration. The First Class cabin has 12 seats that convert to 180 degree flat beds, Business Class offers 18 seats that recline 160 degrees, while Economy features 208 seats.

The Airbus A330-200 features Qatar Airways' award-winning Audio Video On Demand system, allowing passengers in all three classes to choose from a list of more than 40 international movies, as well as short programmes to view on their individual TV screens.

Passengers can also listen to an extensive list of 250 CDs and 16 audio channels. In addition, there is a choice of 12 video games to play through the interactive TV screens.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker said: "We have been working towards operating our first Japanese route for a long time, and are very pleased to now announce our new schedules to the city of Osaka from March 31.

"We have very close ties with Japan, and are very excited to offer our Five Star service to the people of Japan and both business and leisure travellers from around the world travelling on our global network."

From April 1, 2005, Qatar Airways will place its QR flight code on Japanese domestic flights operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) between Osaka Kansai and Tokyo Haneda, Fukuoka and Sapporo, to offer its passengers with excellent connections across key Japanese cities.

Qatar Airways currently operates scheduled flights from its Doha hub to 59 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Indian subcontinent and the Far East. New destinations added in recent weeks have included Seychelles, Johannesburg, Cape Town and London Gatwick.

By the end of 2005, the airline plans to serve at least 70 destinations, including Athens, Tunis and Algiers.

Qatar Airways operates a modern all-Airbus fleet of 39 aircraft which will double in size over the next few years following a $5.1bn order for 34 additional Airbus jets. The airline is one of the launch customers of the twin-deck A380 'super jumbos' with four aircraft on order, scheduled for delivery from 2009.

As one of the fastest growing and youngest carriers in the world, Qatar Airways has made significant inroads in the global aviation industry to become an award-winning airline in just a short few years.

It is one of only three airlines in the world to be ranked a Five Star carrier for excellent service and high standards by Skytrax.

Skytrax also ranked Qatar Airways' cabin crew as the best in the Middle East in 2004 for the second year running and fifth best in the world following a survey of more than two million passengers worldwide.