Qatar Airways on Tuesday joined the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), the professional body dedicated to the aerospace community, during an official signing ceremony between the airline’s CEO Akbar Al Baker met with the RAeS’s President Martin Broadhurst on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow, the airline said in a press release.
“I am pleased to establish this new close relationship with the Royal Aeronautical Society. As leaders in this industry, we always strive for collaboration and partnerships, driving new synergies, and it is through organizations such as these that we build a foundation of mutual benefits to aviation stakeholders,” Al Baker said of the agreement that confirmed the new ‘Corporate Partner’ status of Qatar Airways.
In turn, Broadhurst expressed his delight to welcome Qatar Airways as corporate partner to RAeS. “It is only fitting that Qatar Airways joins a membership of over 20,000 professionals and 200 organizations worldwide, which represents the primary international forum for the exchange of ideas within the sector.
“The Royal Aeronautical Society looks forward to building a long-term relationship with Qatar Airways and supporting their growth in the aviation sector,” he added.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, the objectives of RAeS include supporting and maintaining high professional standards in aerospace disciplines; to provide a unique source of specialist information and to act as a local forum for the exchange of ideas.
It is the world’s only professional body dedicated to the entire aerospace community. Established in 1866 to further the art, science and engineering of aeronautics, the Society has been at the forefront of developments in aerospace ever since.
In a separate development, Qatar Airways is increasing its capacity to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Dammam with extra wide-body A330s, B787s and B777s commencing services to Abu Dhabi as of November 1 and Dubai and Dammam from December 1.
“We are pleased to announce that we will be upgrading a number of our aircraft to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Dammam to satisfy increasing passenger demand for our award-winning services. As business and leisure travel to, within, and through the Middle East region increases, more and more travelers expect a premium product and services, and with our latest aircraft and our premium offering, Qatar Airways is perfectly equipped to cater for that demand,” Al Baker said.
Qatar Airways has expanded rapidly during its 18 years of operation and today serves 152 destinations around the world with a 170-strong fleet of modern, state-of-the-art aircraft including the A350 for which it was the global launch customer.
Based at Hamad International Airport, Qatar Airways provides quick and convenient onward connections for passengers to key business and leisure destinations across the airline’s ever-expanding global network, including those in Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Africa, North and South America and Europe.
This year, Qatar Airways has launched new services to Amsterdam in the Netherlands; Zanzibar in Tanzania; Faisalabad, Sialkot and Multan in Pakistan, and Abha in Saudi Arabia. In the pipeline before the end of this year are Durban in South Africa and Nagpur in India.
Beginning in 2016, Qatar Airways is also launching flights to three new U.S. destinations – Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta, two new destinations in Australia – Sydney and Adelaide, Birmingham in the U.K., and also Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE.