Qatar Airways now flies A330 to Malaysia

Published by Gulf Times: Tuesday, 18 September, 2007, 01:36 AM Doha Time

Business Reporter

QATAR Airways has upgraded the aircraft on its Doha-Kuala Lumpur-Bali route to an Airbus A330 offering passengers in every seat a fully interactive audio and video entertainment system.

All 10 weekly services between Doha and the Malaysian capital will be served with the long-range aircraft, non-stop. The aircraft will also operate on all four weekly flights on the Kuala Lumpur-Bali sector, a route launched in March.

Qatar Airways launched flights to Malaysia in December 2001 with three flights a week and progressively increased capacity to the current frequency of 10
services.

The Doha-Kuala Lumpur route had been operated with an Airbus A300, which is gradually being phased out of the airline’s fleet. Qatar Airways is now using two aircraft types on the route - an A330-200 featuring 22 business class seats and 259 in economy, as well as an A330-300 with 30 business class seats and 275 in economy.

The upgraded A330s feature up to 53 more seats than the A300.
Qatar Airways offers passengers a choice of over 80 international movies, 70 TV shows and 16 music channels, as well as over 300 music CDs from popular and classical artists onboard its A330s.

All passengers have access to seatback TV screens giving them the opportunity to watch programmes at the time of their choice. The fully interactive system allows passengers to forward, rewind, stop and pause their programmes giving them greater flexibility over their viewing options.

Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar al-Baker said the airline operated 28 A330s, currently the backbone of its 58-strong fleet of aircraft.

“The A330 has done us proud as a great flying machine offering passengers the greatest levels of comfort. I am sure our passengers flying to Kuala Lumpur and beyond to Bali from today will have a whole new in-flight experience with a fully interactive entertainment system offering plenty of audio and video options,” he said.

Marwan Koleilat, Qatar Airways senior manager (commercial operations, Far East and Australasia), added: “The change of aircraft from the A300 to the A330-200 and A330-300 will enable us to further increase passenger traffic on the Kuala Lumpur and Bali routes ensuring more convenience and comfort for all our passengers.”

“Our Bali flights have performed exceptionally well since we launched the route in March and I am delighted to say passengers from Europe, Africa, United States and the Middle East travelling on this route will be able to enjoy greater convenience and more seating capacity in this state-of-the-art aircraft.”

Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 58 all-Airbus aircraft to 78 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Far East, Indian subcontinent and North America. The highlight of Qatar Airways’s 2007 expansion has been the launch of flights to New York (Newark) and Washington DC - the airline’s first move into the North American market.