Qatar Airways To Launch Athens-New York Direct Flight

Qatar Airways will launch daily direct flights between Athens and New York next year, the airline’s chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, announced yesterday, Wednesday, 28 November, at a media briefing in Athens.

Mr. Al Baker said the new year-round service would begin during summer 2013 on Boeing 787 or Airbus A380 aircraft.

Since this past summer, the Greek capital has lost direct air connections to major destinations including New York, USA. As of late October 2012, travel to the US from Greece is possible only via connection with other airports in Europe.

According to Mr. Al Baker, withdrawing from a destination is not necessary if the market is not going well. “In this case we make capacity changes on routes, adapting them to the circumstances of each country,” he said.

Qatar Airways’ CEO asserted that the airline would remain in Greece even during the crisis period and support the destination.

He also said Qatar plans to invest further in Greece but did not comment further.

Qatar Airways currently flies a modern fleet of 114 aircraft to 121 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and The Americas.