Qatar Airways to use A330 on Kochi-Doha sector

The A330 will be operational on all 11 frequencies, connecting to more than 125 destinations across the world

Gulf-based carrier Qatar Airways today said it will service its Kochi-Doha sector with a wide body A330, replacing narrow body Airbus 321 to cater to the enhanced demand.

The A330, with a two-class configuration of 248 seats in economy and 36 seats in business class, will be operational on all 11 frequencies to and from Kochi connecting to more than 125 destinations across the world via the airline's hub in Doha, a Qatar Airways press release said here.

"India is a very important part of our expansion strategy. The decision to increase capacity on the sector comes in time to meet growing passenger demand and reflects our aggressive expansion strategy to offer seamless connectivity," Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said.

The airline currently operates 95 flights a week from 12 cities-Kochi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Trivandrum, Chennai and Bengaluru and Delhi.

"In line with our commitment to this market and the consistent increase in demand from Indian passengers, we will continue to invest in our fleet and offer capacity to the routes where there is a need," Al Baker said.

There are a significant number of Indian expatriates from Kochi who are working in Qatar and the GCC, he said, adding the increase in capacity will enable Qatar Airways to quickly meet the growing demand of these passengers.

Passengers from Kochi can travel to destinations including Dubai, Kuwait, Muscat, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Salalah, Dammam, Jeddah, London, New York and Chicago via the airline's Doha hub, the airline said.