Qatar Airways unveils Kolkata route in India

Qatar Airways, the emirate’s national carrier, has launched flights from Doha to Kolkata this week in a bid to increase its share of the Gulf’s lucrative expatriate population.The Doha-based airline will operate one flight per day between the Qatari capital and the city formerly known as Calcutta, in a scheme to widen its passenger flight network in the country.As one of the largest Arab carriers, Qatar Airways already operates 95 flights per week between the Qatari capital and 12 Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Goa.In a statement, the airline said a “rising demand for flights” had been prompted by “India’s rapid pace of development”.  The carrier will face increased competition for fares, as rising numbers of no-frills Indian airlines announce routes into the Gulf.India’s largest low-cost carrier IndiGo last month said it planned to launch routes between Dubai and New Dehli and Dubai and Mumbai, offering cut-price fares to to passengers travelling between the subcontinent and UAE.Air India Express also operates routes to the Gulf, alongside the region’s homegrown budget airlines Air Arabia and Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways.Kolkata is the ninth new route to be announced by Qatar Airways in 2011, with a further five scheduled to launch before the year-end.Along with Gulf rivals Etihad and Emirates Airway, Qatar Airways is one of the largest buyers of new aircraft, with orders for 80 Airbus A350s, 60 Boeing 787s and five Airbus SAS A380s.Qatar Airway said in March it would hire 11,500 new staff over the next three years to keep pace with an expansion plan that will see it serve 120 destinations by 2013.The airline intends to grow its fleet to more than 120 aircraft during the same period.Qatar, the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, is building a new airport with the capacity to accommodate 50 million passengers per year. From / Arabian Business