Middle-Eastern airline Qatar Airways has announced plans to expand its flight operations in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The group said that by March 2021 it plans to operate 28 weekly flights from the country, including:<\/p>\n
“We are proud to be the leading international carrier connecting South Africa with Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the US, offering more flexible travel options and a global network of flights that passengers, trade and business partners can rely on,”\u00a0 said Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar Al Baker.<\/p>\n
“South Africa has always been a very important market to us and we continue to demonstrate our commitment to the region by adding new routes and steadily increasing frequencies across the continent.”<\/p>\n
As global travel recovers in 2021, Al Baker said that the airline plans to further expand its network and offer more connections to and from Africa.<\/p>\n
The move has been welcomed by South African Tourism chief executive Sisa Ntshona who said that the extra flights will be a boon for the country’s Covid-19 lockdown recovery.<\/p>\n
“This certainly demonstrates to the world that South Africa has put the necessary measures in place to ensure that it is safe for travel in the Covid-19 environment,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Air access is important for South Africa, as we to look to recover post-Covid and Qatar Airways has an extensive global network that links travellers via Doha from our source markets.”<\/p>\n
Ntshona said that the move by Qatar Airways to increase its capacity will go a long way in assisting the country regain the international arrival numbers.<\/p>\n