Doha – Qatar Airways will inaugurate a daily direct flight between Doha, the Arab country’s capital, and São Paulo, on June 24. In an exclusive interview to ANBA, the airline’s CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said that US$ 1 billion were invested in the purchase of two Boeing 777-200 aircraft, which will be used in the route.
In addition to the demand for destinations in the Middle East, Baker believes there should be a demand from passengers willing to fly to other destinations served by the airline, particularly in Asia, such as China, India and Japan. Qatar Airways currently flies to 89 different cities.
The company is going to compete directly against Emirates Airline, which also offers a direct flight between Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and São Paulo, as well as several connections to Asia. “Competition is a good thing for Brazil and the public, there must be no monopolies,” said the executive.
As a differential, he mentioned the quality of the airline’s services, and promised to offer connections flights to Asia leaving just one hour after arrival of the flight from Brazil. “There is less travel time involved,” he declared.
Even though he is betting on interest in flying to Asia, Baker stated that most clients should be people seeking destinations in the Middle East. With regard to that, he stressed that there are many people of Arab origin living in Brazil, and that business between the two regions has been growing a lot. These two factors led the company to create the route.
Besides, the executive claimed that Brazil is an important country in many aspects, especially the economic one, and that the company had been intending to launch the flight for a long time. “We just did not have the aircraft yet,” he said. The trip between Doha and São Paulo will take from 16 to 17 hours.
Buenos Aires
Another differential, according to Baker, is that the aircraft are also going to make the flight from São Paulo to Buenos Aires and back. Therefore, the company is going to sell tickets for that route as well. “There is strong demand for that route, which is not fully served by local companies. Our timing is perfect and we have the right to do that,” he stated.
The launch of the flight, according to Baker, will also encourage the flow of passengers from the Middle East to South America. He underscored that this already took place when the company launched routes to other destinations, such as Madrid, in Spain, the Maldives, the Seychelles, and South Africa. “Tourists do not like to switch planes [to arrive at their destination],” he said. He added that Qatari travel agencies are going to sell Brazil as a holiday and business destination.
Baker also claimed that Qatar Airways is going to transport cargo, which Emirates Airline already does, because each aircraft has capacity for 35 tonnes. The company will have an office in Brazil and initially, 15 direct jobs will be created.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
