Qatar Airways was established on November 22, 1993 but it did not start its flights until 1994. It started with a staff of 75 employees with a fleet of two Airbus A310s. It was later re launched in 1997. Akbar Al Baker has been the CEO of Qatar Airways since 1997 up to date. He is accredited for transforming the airline from the initial fleet of two into a major force in commercial aviation and being rated a five star rating by Skytrax.  In June 2003, a Qatar Airways Airbus A320 was the first aircraft that resumed international services to Iraq and it is important to note that it also incorporated its first dedicated cargo aircraft to the fleet. It was the first airline to be audited under new IATA operational audit.  It reported its first ever profit in fiscal year ended in March 2004{ qtn Wikipedia}.

On October 12, 2009 it completed the world’s first ever commercial passage flight which was powered by fuel made of natural gas. In 2012 Qatar Airways acquired a Dreamliner becoming the seventh carrier in the world to acquire it from Boeing. It employs over 46000 people with 32,000 being directly employed by Qatar Airways Group.

Ownership and subsidiaries

The carrier is wholly owned by the Qatari government. It is the national carrier of Qatar. It is based at Doha Hamad International Airport. The airport was opened in 2014 and it has won the best airport in Middle East at the Skytrax World Airports Awards. It has a distinctive logo. It uses the head of an Oryx which is the national animal symbol of the Qatar. It has an extensive international service to more than 160 destinations worldwide and a fleet of the latest generation aircraft of over 200. It continues to fly its slogan Going Places Together.

It has invested Include a 49% stake in Meridiana, 20% stake in the International Airlines Group (IAG), 10% in Cathay Pacific and 10% stake in LATAM. It also operates Qatar Airways Cargo.{qtn center for  aviation}

Services

It offers first class, Business class and Economy class passenger flights. First class passengers enjoy over 6.5 legroom and seats that fold into beds with feather duvets.  Economy class features flat horizontal beds with massage functions.  Wines and champagnes are also served. Economy class has seated back TVs and some touch screens. The airline offers in flight entertainment called Oryx one.

Awards

It was voted Airline of the year by Skytrax in 2011, 2012 and 2015.  In 2017 Qatar Airways won the confidence of the travelling public.

Works cited

Centreforaviation.com/data/profiles/airlines/qatar-airways-qr

Accessed on 14/09/2019

En.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_Airways

Accessed on 14/09/2019