Qatar Airways has extended its network in India to include the holy city of Amritsar in the northern state of Punjab, heralding the beginning of huge route expansion over the next seven weeks.

With Diwali — the festival of lights — celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs around the world on October 17, the arrival of flight QR298 from Doha to Amritsar was a welcome sign ahead of the festive season.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker led an official delegation of international media onboard the packed inaugural flight to Raja Sansi International Airport on the outskirts of the colourful city Amritsar, where the Golden Temple is home to the Sikh religion.

Passengers flying from North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East to Doha have excellent onward late evening connections to Amritsar, a route Qatar Airways is operating four-times-a-week non-stop from the capital of the State of Qatar.

The airline flies daily from Johannesburg and four times a week from Cape Town onto Doha, allowing South Africans ease of connection to any of the over 84 destinations that Qatar Airways flies to.

The launch of dedicated scheduled flights, using a two-class Airbus A320, meets high demand for seats to Amritsar before Diwali and ahead of the busy holiday season. The airline is offering 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.

Over the next few weeks, the idyllic Indian beach holiday destination of Goa will join the network from October 25, and flights to the Australian city of Melbourne are due to start on December 6.

“These are exciting times for Qatar Airways with three route launches in less than two months, which demonstrates the robust expansion we are forging ahead with,” said Al Baker.

Qatar Airways currently operates 56 flights a week between Doha and India — daily non-stop services to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Cochin and Kozhikode. The addition of Amritsar and, soon, Goa will take Qatar Airways’ Indian capacity up to 64 flights a week.

AFP

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