Celebrating the arrival of its inaugural flight to Auckland

QATAR AIRWAYS CELEBRATES THE ARRIVAL OF ITS INAUGURAL FLIGHT TO AUCKLAND WITH VIP GALA DINNER

New Zealand actress and singer Kimbra gives crowd-pleasing performance at Qatar Airways’ gala dinner event at Auckland War Memorial Museum

9 February 2017

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Qatar Airways celebrated the arrival of its inaugural flight to Auckland with a gala dinner event held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Tuesday night and attended by the city’s most influential VIPs, politicians and celebrities. The evening was hosted by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, who welcomed VIP guests including: The Hon. Murray McCully, New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Qatar’s Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, His Excellency Nasser bin Hamad Mubarak Al-Khalifa.

H.E. Mr. Al Baker said: “I am very happy to be here in Auckland celebrating the launch of our new service. At 17 and a half hours, the most important elements we can offer our passengers travelling on this record-breaking flight are comfort and entertainment.

“They will also enjoy our award-winning on-board service that our cabin crew are proud to deliver. We look forward to welcoming the people of New Zealand on board as they travel to the more than 150 destinations on our global network.

“We are delighted that this service will give us the opportunity to bring more visitors to this beautiful country, which attracts tourists from all over the world.”

The stylish crowd enjoyed a dazzling line-up of entertainment culminating in a crowd-pleasing performance from New Zealand’s own princess of pop, singer and actress, Kimbra.

Qatar Airways’ first flight touched down at Auckland International Airport on 6 February where it was welcomed by Hon Todd McClay, New Zealand’s Minister of Trade and State Owned Enterprises and Auckland International Airport Chief Executive, Mr. Adrian Littlewood.. The award-winning airline will fly to and from Auckland daily with a Boeing 777 aircraft, which offers 42 seats in Business Class and 217 seats in Economy Class.

Auckland is the airline’s first new destination of 2017. Qatar Airways is one of the fastest growing airlines, with a new aircraft being delivered approximately every 10 days. Continuing its path of expansion the airline will add new routes to destinations such as Canberra, Australia; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Dublin, the Republic of Ireland; Nice, France; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; and Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, in the next 12 months.

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Doha – Auckland Flight Schedule:

Daily

Doha (DOH) to Auckland (AKL) QR0920 departs: 02:50 arrives 05:00 +1 Auckland (AKL) to Doha (DOH) QR0921 departs: 14:40 arrives 22:10 About Qatar Airways: Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar is celebrating 20 years of Going Places Together with travellers across its more than 150 business and leisure destinations. The world’s fast growing airline will add a number of exciting new destinations to its growing network in 2017, including Chiang Mai, Dublin, Nice, Skopje and many more, flying passengers on board its modern fleet of 192 aircraft.

A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was awarded World's Best Business Class; Best Business Class Airline Lounge and Best Airline Staff Service in the Middle East at the prestigious 2016 World Airline Awards managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax.

Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld global alliance. The award-winning alliance was named the World’s Best Airline Alliance 2015 by Skytrax for the third year running. Qatar Airways was the first Gulf carrier to join global airline alliance, oneworld, enabling its passengers to benefit from more than 1,000 airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,250 daily departures.

Oryx One, Qatar Airways’ in-flight entertainment system offers passengers up to 3,000 entertainment options from the latest blockbuster movies, TV box sets, music, games and much more. Passengers flying on Qatar Airways flights served by its B787, A350, A380, A319 and select A320 and A330 aircraft can also stay in touch with their friends and family around the world by using the award-winning airline’s on-board Wi-Fi and GSM service.

Qatar Airways proudly supports a range of exciting international and local initiatives dedicated to enriching the global community that it serves. Qatar Airways sponsors world-leading sports teams including FC Barcelona and Al-Ahli Saudi Arabia FC reflecting the values of sports as a means of bringing people together, something at the core of the airline’s own brand message – Going Places Together.

Qatar Airways Cargo, the world’s third largest cargo carrier, serves more than 50 exclusive freighter destinations worldwide via its Doha hub and also delivers freight to more than 150 key business and leisure destinations globally on 192 aircraft. The Qatar Airways Cargo fleet now includes eight Airbus 330Fs, 11 Boeing 777 freighters and one Boeing 747 freighter

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