Qatar Airways Continues to Shine

Written by Adam Gonn

Qatar Airways is once again the only airline in the Middle East to be awarded five stars from Skytrax.

Qatar Airways has retained its status as the only five star airline in the Middle East.

The British based airline advisory firm Skytrax Research, confirmed that Qatar Airways, the national carrier of Qatar, will receive five stars in the companies listing for 2009-2010.

"Qatar Airways is the only airline in the Middle East region to have gained this 5-Star Airline certification, and one of just six airlines worldwide that currently meet the exacting and rigorous quality criteria set for this ultimate ranking," Skytrax said in a statement.

According to Skytrax, the five star airline status recognizes airlines at the forefront of product and service delivery achievement, and generally refers to the airlines that set trends to be followed by other carriers in due course.

In addition to receiving the award from Skytrax Research, a Skytrax passenger survey, which polled 16 million travelers, voted Qatar Airways as having the best economy class, an award considered by some analysts as more significant.

"I think Skytrax is probably the leading rater the airline business looks at. As for the general public, I reckon they are far more likely to look at 'public perception' (user) rating sites" David J Bentley, Aviation Analyst with Big Pond Aviation, told The Media Line.

"In other words, public perception is everything" Bentley said.

Qatar Airways, in its current form, was established in 1997, and marked the start of a growth period for other Gulf based airlines. The carrier’s home hub is in Doha International Airport located just outside the capital.

The current Doha International Airport is currently undergoing a $1 billion upgrade of its facilities. In comparison, The New Doha International Airport scheduled to open by 2012 with an initial capacity of 24 million passengers, has a budget of $14.5 billion. That number is expected to grow to $50 million in the future.

Qatar Airways is the largest Middle East based customer of the European plane maker Airbus, and so far the company has ordered five A380s with a delivery schedule beginning in 2012.

The A380 is Airbus’s crown jewel double-decker with a capacity of up to 555 passengers depending on configuration. In order to be able to handle the new plane many airports have followed New Doha International Airport’s lead and expanded their current buildings.

In contrast to many other Gulf based airlines such as Emirates Airlines from Dubai, or Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi, which are fully government owned, Qatar Airways is partially owned by private investors.

Source: The Media Line.
Link: http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=26568.