Qatar Airways has announced frequency increases on flights from Delhi, Amritsar and Kochi to be phased in over a two-month period, effective September 1, 2010. With an additional 14 flights a week from the three Indian cities, Qatar Airways raises the number of services between India and its Doha hub to 88 flights a week – representing a 20 per cent increase in frequency.

From September 1, 2010 Amritsar flights will increase from four-a-week to a daily service, less than a year since Qatar Airways launched flights from the northern Indian city. Kochi, currently served daily, will also get an additional four-flights-a-week – two from September 1, 2010 and the other two from November 5, 2010.

In beginning of the Northern Winter flying programme on October 31, 2010, the popular Delhi – Doha route will secure an additional daily flight, taking capacity from the capital up to 14 services a week. With the new additional flights, each of the 11 Indian destinations will be served daily non-stop, except Delhi and Kochi, which will have a double daily service and 11 flights-a-week, respectively.

Qatar Airways’ service from India currently covers 11 cities across – Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Trivandrum, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad, Goa and Amritsar. India is by far Qatar Airways’ single biggest market by the number of destinations served – and the country alone makes up over ten per cent of the airline’s international network.

Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways said, “We are pleased to announce additional frequencies from Delhi, Kochi and Amritsar from next month, which further cements our commitment to the Indian market. Taking into account the new upcoming frequencies, we will have stepped up capacity from India from 56 to 88 services a week since last year, which represents a remarkable 57 per cent increase in frequency between India and Qatar. India is an important market for us, as we are able to offer passengers a large selection of destinations and convenient connection times to numerous global cities that Qatar Airways serves from Doha.”

Al Baker added, “With these frequency increases in India, and six new recently announced upcoming routes, we look forward to further global expansion to some more destinations over the next few months.”

Henry Moses, Country Manager, Qatar Airways India said, “Demand for flights from India is growing at a strong pace and we recognise that the travelling public from India is increasingly looking for high service and quality when deciding which airline to fly with. We at Qatar Airways are proud of our award-winning Five Star service – the only Middle Eastern airline that has earned this accolade, giving our passengers a great travel experience. Our enhanced frequency from India provides excellent connectivity to the rest of the world via Doha.”

During a four-month period from October 2010, the airline’s passenger route network will rise to almost 100 destinations. The additions of Phuket (October 12), Hanoi (November 1), Nice (November 24), Bucharest (January 17), Budapest (January 17) and Brussels (January 31, 2011) provide even more travel options for passengers to and from India, with a convenient stop in Doha.