Akbar al-Baker, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airway says that by the end of this year the airlines will extend its services to 15 more destinations, bringing the total to 60.
In another 12 months, he told a news conference here on Tuesday, these will expand to 70 destinations world-wide.
In a span of six years, he remarked, the expansion and consolidation of Qatar Airways was a remarkable achievement.
He said that by the end of 2007 QA would possess new generation airbus able to ferry nearly 500 passengers at a time.
The airline is the fastest growing carrier of the region and flies into Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore and the flight to the Federal capital raises the number to 13 a week.
A-Baker said that under the current air services agreement between Pakistan and Qatar, his carrier could not lift passengers beyond Doha, and could provide connections to numerous destinations.
"Our airline", he said, "has not put any such restriction on Pakistan as we understand the situation of this country, the difficulties it faces and then we have very intimate relations".
The Qatar Airways commenced operations as an individual enterprise a decade ago and was later subscribed by the Qatar Government that today owns nearly 56 percent of its stock but has kept in private hands to function. The current corporate life of the Airlines is seven years and in this it has expanded admirably. Islamabad is its 49th destination.
Akbar al-Baker said the airline has a strong presence in India and is concentrating on operations to South Indian cities of Hyderabad, Trivandrum and Cochin.
During the current month, the airline plans to operate to Tehran and Luxur (Valley of the Kings in Egypt) and the following month to Zurich and Istanbul. It had plans for Kabul, Osaka, and Johannesburg early next year.
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