Qatar Airways now flies three times per week from Doha to Chicago

CHICAGO, 2013-04-11 — /travelprnews.com/ — Qatar Airways’ inaugural flight from Doha to Chicago touched down at O’Hare International Airport today (April 10, 2013).

Qatar now offers flights three times per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, between Chicago O’Hare and Qatar Airways’ hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar. Effective June 15, the Chicago – Doha route will be increased to daily service.

“Chicago is pleased to welcome Qatar Airways’ world-class service to our global gateway, O’Hare International Airport,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “New international air service creates additional economic opportunities, increases tourism to our city and strengthens Chicago’s cultural and business connection to the world. This service will generate more than $200 million in annual economic impact and will connect passengers from Chicago to destinations across India, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.”

Passengers on Flight QR991 arrived to a grand airport ceremony attended by Qatar’s Ambassador to the United States of America, His Excellency Mr. Mohamad Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi; Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker; Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) Commissioner Rosemarie S. Andolino; and Choose Chicago President and CEO Don Welsh.

“I would like to take this special opportunity to thank the people of Chicago and local airport authorities for their great support in helping us launch passenger flights to this vibrant city,” said Al Baker. “After more than five successful years of operations in North America, we are pleased to introduce Chicago as our fourth and newest U.S. gateway and look forward to welcoming travellers from the Midwest and its catchment area to fly with us to many parts of the world and, similarly welcome visitors from around the world to this great city.”

Andolino extended a warm welcome to Chicago to CEO Al Baker and the Qatar Airways team. “Qatar’s outstanding reputation for excellence in customer product and service will be a great fit here at O’Hare International Airport,” she said. “Passengers traveling from Doha will find that O’Hare’s central location and vast array of services can connect them to almost anywhere else is the U.S. or world – if their final destination is not Chicago.”

Welsh added, “We are honored that Qatar Airways has added Chicago to its global route. This new service will certainly enhance our efforts as we continue to implement strategies to help grow Chicago’s share of the international marketplace.”

Qatar Airways’ Doha – Chicago route is being operated with a Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft in a two-class configuration of 293 seats in Economy Class and 42 in Business Class. Qatar Airways also operates dedicated cargo flights between the two cities that launched in August 2010.

The aircraft features seatback TV screens, providing all passengers in both cabins with the next generation interactive onboard entertainment system – a choice of more than 1,000 audio and video-on-demand options.

One of the world’s fastest growing airlines, Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 15 years of operations, currently flying a modern fleet of 122 aircraft to 126 key business and leisure destinations worldwide.

Qatar Airways now operates 24 flights a week between the United States and Doha – daily from New York, Washington, D.C. and Houston, and the new services from Chicago three times a week.

Qatar Airways is set to launch services to a diverse portfolio of new routes during 2013, including Salalah, Oman (May 22); Basra, Iraq (June 3), Sulaymaniyah, Iraq (August 20), Chengdu, China, at a date to be confirmed and many more start-ups to be announced.

According to Qatar Airways, the airline currently has orders worth over US$50 billion for more than 250 aircraft, including Boeing 787s, 777s, Airbus A350s, A380s and A320 Family of aircraft. In addition to winning Skytrax’s Airline of the Year 2011 and 2012, Qatar Airways was named Best Airline in the Middle East for the seventh year in a row.

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