DOHA: Qatar Airways (QA) launched its second new destination of the year, touching down in the Spice Island of Zanzibar yesterday.
Zanzibar is QA’s third route in Tanzania, following Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro.
QA will initially operate five weekly flights to Zanzibar via Kilimanjaro, and from October 1 will offer additional two weekly flights making it a daily operation. Of the daily flights from October, passengers will be able to fly non-stop to Zanzibar three-times-a-week and on a linked flight via Kilimanjaro four-times-a-week.
Flight QR1355 arrived at Zanzibar International Airport at 16.20 local time and was welcomed by dignitaries and media.
QA Chief Commercial Officer Marwan Koleilat, who was on the inaugural flight, said, “The latest route marks another milestone for QA that has spread its international wings to its 20th gateway in Africa and 148th destination globally.
“Zanzibar’s attraction as a tourist destination has been growing as more travellers discover its wonderful combination of cultures and QA is delighted to be able to give more people the opportunity to visit this beautiful island with all it has to offer.
“By providing a reliable, convenient and award-winning travel experience from Zanzibar, QA will provide passengers with the opportunity to travel to Doha and connect onwards to over 140 worldwide destinations through our Hamad International Airport.”
Koleilat, Qatari Ambassador to Tanzania Jassim Al Maadadi, QA Vice-President Africa Jared Lee and a delegation of the airline’s senior management met Zanzibar’s Minister of Infrastructure and Communication Juma Duni Haji and local ministers at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport.
QA flies an Airbus A320 to Zanzibar five times a week from its global hub in Doha.
It is operating an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration on the Zanzibar-Doha route, with 12 seats in Business class and up to 132 seats in Economy class. Each seat on selected flights offers an interactive audio and video entertainment system featuring up to 1,000 options of movies, TV programmes and music channels.
Passengers can remain connected with friends, colleagues and family with an SMS text messaging service using their mobile devices.
The Peninsula
