Qatar Airways, the national carrier of Qatar, has introduced Durban to its list of destinations in South Africa – its third route to the country following Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Commencing December 17, the airline will launch four new weekly flights to Durban via Johannesburg, bringing the total frequency to Johannesburg up from 10 weekly flights to a double-daily service.

And from October 1, Qatar Airways will be operating daily flights to Cape Town ahead of the busy 2015/16 winter travel season, an increase from five weekly flights this winter.

Durban is the second most important manufacturing hub in South Africa after Johannesburg with the presence of a number of major multi-national companies and is also famous for being the busiest port in the African continent. It is also seen as one of the main centres of tourism because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches and is an exciting holiday destination thanks to its luxury resorts and adventure sports opportunities.

The new Durban service and additional flights to South Africa will offer business and leisure passengers excellent connections to popular routes in Europe and the Far East such as London and Manchester (UK), Paris (France), Frankfurt (Germany), Madrid (Spain) and Bangkok (Thailand), among others.

 “At Qatar Airways we strive to provide our passengers with the best of service levels on ground and on board our modern fleet. We also provide our passengers with a strong global network of business and leisure destinations, and the city of Durban will be a welcome new addition to our extensive route map,” said Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Group chief executive.

“Durban is an important gateway into South Africa and we are very confident that this route will be warmly welcomed like all our other routes in the African continent,” he said.

Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be deployed on the new Durban route which offers passengers 254 seats across its Business and Economy Class, with its seats in Business Class reclining to 180-degree fully flat beds.

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 18 years of operation, to the point where today it is flying a modern fleet of 147 aircraft to 146 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America. – TradeArabia News Service