Qatar Airways goes non-stop from Doha to Jakarta

Two of the airline's seven weekly flights between both cities now operate non-stop. The remaining five flights will continue to be served via the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

From the beginning of the summer flying programme on March 27, 2005, two additional flights bound for Indonesia will operate non-stop taking the number of direct services between the two capitals to four-a-week.

The new schedules will ensure Qatar Airways offers improved connections for passengers travelling to and from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the new non-stop services reflected the airline's commitment to provide improved flights between its Doha hub in the State of Qatar and the Indonesian capital.

"Indonesia is one of our best-selling markets in south-east Asia and we are pleased to be able to offer non-stop services to Jakarta for the first time," he said.

"Non-stop ensures we provide shorter flying times making it more convenient for our passengers. Qatar is home to many Indonesians and there are strong trade links and traffic between both countries, which makes our non-stop flights even more viable.

"We hope to eventually operate all our Jakarta flights non-stop over time."

Qatar Airways will continue to use an Airbus A330-200 configured in up to 24 Business Class seats and up to 259 seats in Economy.

Qatar Airways is gearing up for a busy summer programme with the Japanese commercial city of Osaka joining the airline's growing global network from March 31, 2005. Tunis and Algiers follow on May 2.

Qatar Airways currently operates scheduled flights from 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.

The award-winning airline 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, the independent aviation industry quality monitoring agency.

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.