Qatar Airways discusses expansion plans for Italy

Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, hosted a press briefing with national and regional Italian media during his recent visit to Tuscany.
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Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, hosted a press briefing with national and regional Italian media during his recent visit to Tuscany.

Celebrating the launch of the airline’s flights to Pisa in August 2016, the press briefing was also attended by Abdulaziz Bin Ahmed Al Malki Al Jehani, Qatar’s Ambassador to Italy.

During the press briefing Al Baker gave the national and regional media an update on the airline’s expansion plans in Italy as well as the latest news on its negotiations to purchase a 49 per cent stake in Meridiana Fly.

Al Baker said: “Italy is an incredibly important destination in our network and we will keep investing in new routes and increased services in this market. Once the runway extension at Florence Airport is complete, we fully intend to start a service to this historic city, which is so important to tourism in the region. We are also committed to upgrading the aircraft type currently flying to Pisa from an A320 to a wide body model as soon as we receive more aircraft in our fleet.”

Al Baker added: “We are hoping to have our discussions concluded by the end of January. During this period Meridiana Fly also has to deliver certain conditions and achieve certain targets in its performance. We want Meridiana Fly to be a very strong national carrier with a robust international network, creating jobs for the young people of Italy.”