Qatar Airways showcases new routes at ITB Berlin 2005

The airline has literally taken over the show with a huge billboard at the entrance to the exhibition grounds promoting its largest-ever presence at one of the world's biggest travel fairs.

It has also been drumming up interest among the travel trade and general public with Japanese drummers on the stand, together with servings of sushi to promote Osaka - its 60th and newest route being launched from Doha four-times-a-week from 31st March 2005.

To celebrate the recently added routes of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Seychelles, Qatar Airways has been giving away Business Class tickets in a raffle draw at ITB. The three routes are served four-times-a-week from Doha offering convenient connections to and from Frankfurt and Munich.

During the show, Qatar Airways has been showcasing its new Business Class seats, which are being rolled out on its long-haul Airbus A330 fleet and installed on new aircraft as they are delivered by Airbus. Key features of the seats are that they offer plenty of personal space with electronic controls to help position the seat to suit individual comfort.

The Business Class seats provide:

• 60-inch pitch (55-inch on existing A330-200s)
• 2-2-2 configuration
• Seats convert into two metre bed length
• 15-inch personal LCD TV screens (50% bigger than on the A330-200)
• Personal Audio Video On Demand entertainment system
• Laptop power point
• 5 pre-programmed electronic seat controls (aircraft take-off, meal, upright position, relax, sleeping)
• Personal in-seat telephone
• Seat position memory function
• Back massage control functions
• Seat design by Recaro, of Germany

At ITB, Qatar Airways has a unique design two-tier exhibition stand featuring a reception desk with seating area for meetings and presentations, together with a refreshment area where Qatar Airways cabin crew have been serving Arabic coffee and dates.

On the upper deck there is a VIP area for meetings. The stand also has a 6 metre curved graphic feature wall in Qatar Airways' corporate colours of burgundy and grey.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker, who is attending the five-day exhibition, said he was delighted to once again be taking part in one of the world's premier travel trade events.

"Qatar Airways is growing at a phenomenal pace opening up new routes and adding new and modern aircraft every year," he said.

"Attending the exhibition gives us an opportunity to network with other trade and business partners and showcase our new routes and products."

Qatar Airways currently operates scheduled flights from Doha to 59 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Indian subcontinent and the Far East. In addition to Osaka, the airline will launch flights to Tunis and Algiers on 2nd May 2005 and Athens on 15th June 2005.

The airline began operations in 1997 with only four aircraft - today it operates a fleet of 39 all-Airbus aircraft averaging less than three years old. The fleet will nearly double in size over the next few years following a $5.1bn order for 34 additional Airbus jets.

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.