To celebrate the launch of Qatar Airways’ inaugural flight to Da Nang, Vietnam, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, hosted a press conference today at the InterContinental Hotel Da Nang.

At the press conference, Al Baker highlighted the award-winning airline’s robust expansion plans, as well as its commitment to bringing more travellers to Vietnam and to connecting Da Nang to its extensive global network via the award-winning Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha.

Al Baker said: “We are thrilled to launch our new four-times weekly flights to Da Nang, our third destination in Vietnam. Our existing services to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are incredibly popular, so we realised the need for further expansion in Vietnam. Da Nang has experienced a significant boost in development the last decade and is quickly becoming an in-demand tourist destination. This new gateway will offer our Vietnamese passengers more even convenience and will connectivity to an extensive choice of destinations on our global network, as they transit through our award-winning hub in Doha, Hamad International Airport.”

According to a press release issued by Qatar Airways Kathmandu, deputy Director of Danang Department of Tourism, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Binh commented: “Tourism numbers to Da Nang have steadily increased over the years thanks to Da Nang’s unique landscape of coast, rivers and mountains and varied tourist attractions. Our goal is to welcome eight million tourists to Da Nang in 2020.

“The introduction of direct air services from Doha to Da Nang would undoubtedly help us reach this goal. The enhanced direct connectivity between Da Nang and Western Europe for instance would be beneficial in ramping up tourist arrivals from these promising markets, and we look forward to working closely with Qatar Airways to fulfil our ambitious tourism growth plans.”

Qatar Airways began direct services to Ho Chi Minh City in 2007, and launched its Hanoi service in 2010. The airline currently provides twice-daily direct flights to Vietnam’s capital city and 10 times weekly flights to Ho Chi Minh City. In October 2017, Qatar Airways announced its interline partnership with Vietnam-based Vietjet Air, allowing Qatar Airways passengers to travel to and from points in Vietnam not served directly by Qatar Airways using a single reservation across both airlines’ networks.

Da Nang has also seen a tremendous increase in its number of visitors, with a record-breaking 6.6 million tourists in 2017, doubling the figure in 2013. In 2015, the New York Times also listed Da Nang among the top 52 places to visit.

The world’s second largest cargo carrier has a strong presence in Vietnam with six weekly freighter services to Hanoi, seven weekly freighter services to Ho Chi Minh City and 28 weekly belly-hold flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and now Da Nang. Qatar Airways Cargo will offer more than 1400 tonnes out of the country each week, where businesses in the country will benefit not only from direct cargo capacity to Middle East, Europe and Americas but also regular services and reduced transit times. Major exports from Da Nang will consist of garments, perishables and electronics.

Qatar Airways will operate its four-times weekly Da Nang service with a Boeing B787 aircraft, which features 22 flatbed seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class. Passengers will be able to enjoy the airline’s superior Oryx One entertainment system, offering passengers up to 4,000 entertainment options.

Qatar Airways has added many new exciting destinations to its network in 2018, including Canberra, Australia; Cardiff, U.K.; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Mombasa, Kenya, to name just a few.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar is one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines, with a modern fleet of more than 200 aircraft flying to business and leisure destinations across six continents.

A multiple-award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Business Class’ by the 2018 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Business Class Seat’, ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, and ‘World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge.’