The chief executive officer of Qatar Airways has said Vietnam is an increasingly attractive destination for both leisure and business travelers and an important contributor to the airline’s global flight network and its ambition to become the world’s leading carrier.
Akbar Al Baker raised the point at a meeting with reporters in Hanoi on Tuesday, a day after the award-winning, five-star carrier started flying to the capital city of Vietnam, with four weekly flights via Bangkok on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in the initial schedule.
Vietnam is no longer a small market because this country has recorded strong economic growth over the years, Al Baker said. “I have huge confidence in the development of Vietnam. Vietnam will be a very strong large market in the future and we want to play a part in this economy.”
“We are investing in the future of Vietnam,” Al Baker answered a relevant question from the Daily. He went on to say that no airline expected to make money from the beginning, and even Qatar Airways did not see profitability in Doha-Vietnam services but this country would contribute significantly to the routes the carrier is operating.
Qatar Airways looks to profitability in its entire network rather than a point-to-point section, he explained while talking about the prospect for a profit from the tripling of services to Vietnam from November for passengers to travel between Doha and Vietnam and beyond.
Besides the new flights to Hanoi, Qatar Airways has three services between Doha and HCMC via Bangkok. These extra flights make the frequency on the Doha-HCMC run daily, including four direct weekly flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays that the airline launched over three years ago.
As scheduled, Qatar Airways aircraft lands at Noi Bai International Airport at 2:45 p.m. and leaves at 11:30 p.m. The plane for the direct Doha-HCMC services arrives at Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 6:20 p.m. and departs at 7:50 p.m. while the arrival and departure times for the Doha-Bangkok-HCMC flights are 2:35 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. respectively.
Qatar Airways did not specify fares for its flights to and from Vietnam, but said they were flexible and available at the carrier’s booking offices and agents as well as onwww.qatarairways.com. Passengers flying with the carrier between Qatar and Vietnam are diverse, from business and leisure travelers to guest workers.
Al Baker said Vietnamese guest workers on Qatar Airways flights from Vietnam accounted for 23% of the carrier’s HCMC-Doha flights in the past years, and the rest were business and leisure passengers, whose demand for air travel has been rebounding since the global financial crisis.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) estimated the country attracted more than 4.17 million international visitors in the January-October period, a year-on-year surge of 39%.
To make the most of this growing market, Al Baker said Qatar Airways planned to operate direct services between Doha and Hanoi and work toward a daily frequency to the Vietnamese capital soon, especially when the airline takes delivery of new aircraft. Qatar Airways has around 90 aircraft flying to 94 destinations in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and America.
In the carrier’s development plan, the carrier’s fleet will expand to 120 aircraft and cover more than 120 major tourist destinations and economic hubs around the world in the next three years.
Al Baker said Qatar Airways would hold talks with Vietnam Airlines over the possibility of cooperating in code-share flights and other areas during his trip to Vietnam this time around.
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