Qatar Daily News

Qatar Airways plans to sell shares in an initial public offering in five years’ time, Al Arabiya Television reports Monday, citing the carrier’s Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker.

Qatar Airways is waiting for the right time to sell shares and “that would be possible after three consecutive years of profit gains,” Al Baker told Al Arabiya.

Qatar Airways today revealed that Copenhagen and Barcelona will join the airline’s ever-expanding route network during the airline’s summer schedule which begins at the end of March 2010.

The announcement follows months of industry speculation over the Doha-based carrier’s plans to launch two new unnamed European destinations.

Commencement of four weekly flights to Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark, will see the airline significantly increase its Scandinavian presence. Qatar Airways currently serves the neighbouring Swedish capital Stockholm non-stop from Doha, a route launched two years ago.

The airline recently announced that it will boost capacity on its Stockholm route with frequency increasing to daily from March next year. With Copenhagen being added, Qatar Airways will further strengthen its operations in Scandinavia, cementing its place in the market as the only GCC carrier to serve the region.
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QATAR Airways is one step closer to becoming the world’s first airline to fly on gas-to-liquids kerosene oil as its aircraft engines will be certified for GTL use by the year-end.

Certification from the Federal Aviation Agency (US) and European authority concerned for GTL use in Qatar Airways’ aircraft engines was expected by 2009-end, the airline’s CEO Akbar al-Baker, told Gulf Times yesterday.

“We need certification from these authorities before we can start using GTL in our aircraft engines. This is because our engines are made either by American or European manufacturers,” he said.
GTL kerosene is highly environmentally-friendly and will significantly reduce carbon emissions. It is dubbed “green fuel” because of its non-polluting features.

Qatar is fast emerging as the global centre for GTL technology as it has invested billions of dollars in setting up two gas-to-liquids projects at Ras Laffan – Pearl GTL and Oryx GTL.
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Qatar Duty Free has launched its latest in-flight magazine offering all Qatar Airways passengers an even greater choice of products than ever before.

Qatar Airways operates a young and modern fleet of 65 Boeing and Airbus aircraft serving 83 cities across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, the Far East and North America.

According to the airline`s press, the 124-page Shopping Extravaganza magazine would be packed full of new and best-selling products including fragrances for men and women, designer make-up, jewelry and electronic gadgets.

“Qatar Airways passengers will be spoilt for choice when they browse through the new glossy magazine which contains not only 107 brand new products, but also 56 of the best-selling products of all time,“ said the statement, adding:
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