Qatar Airways became the largest international airline carrier operating during the early stages of the pandemic and is currently rebuilding its global network. Part of this strategy includes increasing its frequency of flights to give its customers more choice. South Africa is one of destinations to benefit from this, and can expect the following increases:

• Cape Town increases to seven weekly flights from 1 March
• Durban increases to three weekly flights from 14 February
• Johannesburg increases to 18 weekly flights 26 January

This will bring the total number of flights between South Africa and Qatar to 28 every week, by March 2021.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, says, “We are proud to be the leading international carrier connecting South Africa with Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the U.S., offering more flexible travel options and a global network of flights that passengers, trade and business partners can rely on. 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.”

“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.”

Sisa Ntshona, CEO of South African Tourism, says, “We are delighted at the confidence shown by Qatar Airways by increasing its air capacity to South Africa in these challenging times. 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. 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. As we embark on our tourism recovery strategy, having airlines such as Qatar Airways play a supporting role by increasing its capacity will go a long way in assisting us regain the international arrival numbers.”

Qatar Airways’ young mixed fleet of sustainable aircraft allowed it to continue to operate throughout the pandemic, providing the business with invaluable experience and learnings. Currently its global network connects 120 destinations with more than 800 weekly flights. It plans to increase this to 130 destinations by the end of March.

Currently its global network connects 120 destinations with more than 800 weekly flights. It plans to increase this to 130 destinations.

The carrier also became the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star Covid-19 Airline Safety Rating by international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax. This follows the awarding of a Skytrax 5-Star Covid-19 Airport Safety Rating to Hamad International Airport. For more details on what health and safety measures have been implemented by both the airline and the airport, go to: qatarairways.com/safety

All bookings made with Qatar Airways before 30 April 2021 offer unlimited date changes and fee-free refunds for all tickets issued, for travel completed by 31 December 2021. Tickets can also be exchanged for a travel voucher with 10% additional value for all customers booking travel via qatarairways.com. For full terms and conditions visit: qatarairways.com/Flexibility

 

READ: How will Covid vaccines affect business travel?