At the Qatar Airways’
press conference in Phuket addressing local, regional and international
media are Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker (center) flanked by Senior
Vice President East Asia and South West Pacific Marwan Koleilat (right) and
Country Manager Thailand, Cambodia & Myanmar Joe Rajadurai (left).
Qatar Airways, the national airline of the State of
Qatar, is celebrating its 10th anniversary of flights to Thailand with
expanded operations to help strengthen commercial and economic ties between
the two countries.
The recent launch of flights to the holiday island of
Phuket and increased frequency on the Bangkok route has doubled the number
of flights from 14 to 28 a week between the airline’s Doha hub and Thailand.
Addressing a press conference on the holiday island
resort of Phuket, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said
the airline’s huge capacity increase reflected the importance of growing
ties between Thailand and Qatar.
“Our two countries share a long-standing friendship which
has grown from strength to strength,” he said. “Our new Phuket flights will
help boost the tourism economy year round on this beautiful island. With
strong response to our Phuket services, particularly from across our key
European feeder markets, I am delighted to say that we have now upgraded the
flights to a daily operation.
“When we announced Phuket as a new destination in June,
we saw a huge surge in bookings for the peak winter period. It was a timely
launch ahead of the busy holiday season so demand has prompted us to
increase capacity. We are the only Middle East carrier flying to Phuket and
this new service will help create new jobs and support the local economy
beyond the regular seasonal traffic.”
The Phuket route began with six-flights-a-week on October
12, but was stepped up to daily services from November 1. All the flights
are routed via the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The airline is celebrating 10 years of flying to
Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok this year with the introduction of a new
daily flight from November 1, taking capacity up from double to thrice-daily
services. The total number of flights between Qatar and Thailand now stands
at 28 a week.
“Our new daily flight to Bangkok offers passengers even
more choice and further connectivity across Thailand and South East Asia.
The additional Bangkok daily service flies onwards to Ho Chi Minh City and
onto our newly-introduced route of Hanoi. This gives our passengers greater
travel options linking some vibrant cities in this part of the world.”
Four of the new Bangkok flights continue onto Hanoi and
three onto Ho Chi Minh City. Passengers originating in Thailand or Vietnam
can also purchase tickets to fly between Bangkok and both Hanoi and Ho Chi
Minh City on Qatar Airways.
The travel market in Asia is experiencing significant
growth and one which Al Baker stressed Qatar Airways was well placed to take
advantage of.
“IATA statistics have passenger demand in the Asia
Pacific region up over 10 percent on the previous year. The timing of Qatar
Airways’ expansion drive in Asia couldn’t be better to take advantage of
this increase in traffic,” he added.
The launch of flights to Phuket and Hanoi increases Qatar
Airways’ Asia Pacific route network to 18 destinations. Globally, the
airline has launched a further seven routes since February 2010 - Bengaluru
(Bangalore), Copenhagen, Ankara, Tokyo, Barcelona, Sao Paulo and Buenos
Aires.
Al Baker outlined Qatar Airways’ global expansion plans,
highlighting the airline’s focus on targeting underserved routes and
maximizing connectivity to key cities beyond Doha. Over the next five
months, the airline’s growth focuses on Europe with five new destinations -
Nice (November 24), Budapest (January 17), Bucharest (January 17), Brussels
(January 31) and Stuttgart (March 9).
By 2013, Qatar Airways plans to serve 120 key business
and leisure destinations worldwide with a modern fleet of 120 aircraft.
Today, the airline’s fleet stands at 91 aircraft, flying to 94 destinations
across Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North and South
America.
(Seated, L to R) Yaowaluck Hotarapavanont; Dr. Jiraphol Sinthunava,
vice-president of Green Leaf Foundation; Dr. Suvit Yodmani, president of the
Green Leaf Foundation; Chatchawal Supachayanont, general manager of Dusit
Thani Pattaya who represented THA-E and Wiwat Pongburanakit, also of the
Green Leaf Foundation.
The Green Leaf Foundation recently held a meeting at
Dusit Thani Pattaya to discuss strategic planning on how to effectively
carry out its operations in order to respond to the current trend of
environmental issues in Thailand.
The meeting was chaired by Green Leaf Foundation
president Dr. Suvit Yodmani with representatives from the Metropolitan
Waterworks Authority and Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand in
attendance.
Chatchawal Supachayanont, general manager of Dusit Thani
Pattaya was also present during the meeting as the representative of the
Thai Hotels Association of Thailand Eastern Chapter (THA-E).
Part of the strategic action was to organize events and
activities in line with an ecological theme in honor of HM the King’s 83rd
birthday anniversary this year. The project will be carried on to the coming
year and will be a collaborative effort among the other agencies and
organizations that are associated with the Green Leaf Foundation and its
objectives such as the Tourism Authority of Thailand, THA, United Nations
Environment Organization and Development and Development Association of
Environmental Quality.
Thailand’s national police chief Pol Gen Wichean
Potephosree on Wednesday gave assurance to the public that Thailand’s police
can handle the planned demonstrations of anti-government red shirt
protesters although the state emergency was revoked and no information of
possible disturbances during the New Year celebrations has been reported.
The police chief reasserted as the emergency decree was
lifted in Bangkok and its three surrounding provinces of Nonthaburi, Samut
Prakan and Pathum Thani, that the police have become the main agency to
oversee the situation under the Internal Security Act.
Regarding the security plan during the New Year
celebrations, the national police chief said so far no intelligence report
confirmed possible violence or disturbance during the period, but the
nation’s police remain cautious and alert.
He stated that police, soldiers, city officials, disaster
prevention and response staff and medical units are on standby, especially
at key celebrating venues such as Bangkok’s prime commercial area of
Ratchaprasong, the northern city of Chiang Mai and the southern resort
island of Phuket.
Gen Wichean said at Ratchaprasong intersection alone,
3,000 security-concerned personnel will be deployed.
He said the protest leaders of the United Front for
Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) cooperated with the police in
coordinating the two sides during the recent rallies.
Meanwhile, 1st Army Area commander Lt-Gen Udomdej
Sitabutr, overseeing security in the capital and central regions, speaking
as director of Internal Security Operations for Region 1 that he will set up
a center to monitor the situation in his area of responsibility.
Gen Udomdej said military police from three armed forces
and bomb squad units will be deployed during the New Year celebrations,
while warning any politically-motivated groups to carry out peaceful moves
which comply with the law and not obstruct the public.
The commander asserted the army is ready to give an
immediate support if situation worsens or asked by police. (MCOT online
news)
