Qatar Airways launches Vienna service

The beautiful Austrian capital of Vienna has been added to Qatar Airways' rapidly expanding international route network following the arrival of the Qatari national flag carrier's inaugural flight today.

The Doha-based airline is offering a thrice-weekly service to Vienna.

On the eve of the inaugural flight, airline Chief Executive Officer Mr Akbar Al Baker said: "We have always wanted to fly to Vienna, which is, in many ways the cultural capital of continental Europe. We are pleased we can now offer flights to this beautiful and historic city in the heart of Europe".

"Vienna is our 46th destination and forms an integral part of our international network that offers our passengers a greater choice of destination and one of the highest quality airlines services in the world," Mr. Al Baker pointed out.

"Vienna is being added to our network along with Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Tripoli and Cebu in the southern Philippines, as we build our network to around 50 destinations by the end of this year," Mr Al Baker added.

The inaugural Vienna flight carried an official Qatar Airways delegation led by Area Manager Qatar Mr Ehab Abdel Fattah. Vienna Airport Authority officials and the media met the delegation.

Qatar Airways Regional Manager for Europe and the Americas, Mr Siva Ramachandran, welcomed the official delegation and said the new Vienna service confirmed and continued the airline's commitment to offer Europe high quality air services to a vast range of destinations like Kathmandu, India, the Maldives, Sir Lanka and the Far East.

"In this year alone, Qatar Airways has opened new services to Rome, Moscow, Manchester and Vienna. This is in addition to the services we continue to operate to and from London, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich and Milan," Mr. Ramachandran said.

"Qatar Airways is now operating 43 services per week to nine destinations across Europe. Vienna represents an important market for us, and a market that we are keen to serve.

"We are also expecting Vienna to be a very popular destination for people coming from the Far East and the Middle East, given its strong tourism appeal," added Mr Ramachandran.

The new service to Vienna via Munich will operate from Qatar Airways' hub in Doha every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. On Wednesdays and Sundays the flight will leave at 0200 hrs, arriving in Vienna at 0835 hrs. On Friday, the flight will leave Doha at 1245 hrs and arrive in Vienna at 1920 hrs.

Flights from Vienna to Doha via Munich will operate every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Flights will depart Vienna on Wednesdays and Sundays at 1000 hrs and arrive in Doha at 1945 hours. Flights will depart Vienna on Fridays at 2025 hrs and arrive in Doha at 0610 hrs on Saturdays.

An A300-600 aircraft will be used to service the Vienna route.