By Shola Adekola | Lagos
Qatar Airways’ Vice-President, Africa, Hendrik du Preez, has described Kano as an important cultural, commercial and trade hub through which the airline’s services have helped meet passenger and cargo demand from the United Arab Emirates and India.
Hendrik stated this while marking the first anniversary of the airline’s successful operations into Kano (KAN) and Port Harcourt (PHC) which he said have facilitated increased passenger traffic and commerce between the two important West African hubs and the rest of the world.
To mark the anniversary to the two Nigerian states, Qatar Airways had announced an offer of up to 30 percent discount on the fares from Nigeria to the rest of the world.
The multi-award-winning airline, which launched four weekly flights to Kano on March 2, 2022, further expanded operations to Port Harcourt on March 3, 2022. Both operate via Abuja using one of the state-of-the-art Boeing B787 Dreamliner.
The new services, according to the airline, has made Nigeria Qatar Airways the most connected market in Africa, bolstering the double-daily schedule to Lagos and daily Abuja flights even as it also expanded the airline’s presence in Africa to more than 190 weekly flights serving 28 destinations across the continent.
According to Hendrik, “Kano is Nigeria’s second largest city and an important cultural, commercial and trade hub. The four weekly services have helped meet passenger and cargo demand from the UAE and India.
“The three Port Harcourt flights link Nigeria’s petroleum hub to the world’s financial and petrochemical capitals. There has been good reciprocal demand between Port Harcourt and destinations in the USA and UK.
“Africa is one of Qatar Airways’ key growth regions in its global network and milestones such as these anniversaries underpin our investment in and commitment to the continent.”
In addition to opening the Kano and Port Harcourt routes, since the pandemic, Qatar Airways started operations to Luanda, Harare and Lusaka and reinstated flights to Windhoek. More recently it announced a comprehensive codeshare with Airlink in South Africa.
This gives travellers to and from southern Africa more choice, enhanced services and greater connectivity between 45 destinations in 13 countries across the region.
Qatar Airways was named the ‘Airline of the Year’ at the 2022 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax.
The airline continues to be synonymous with excellence having won the main prize for an unprecedented seventh time (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022), while also being named ‘World’s Best Business Class,’ ‘World’s Best Business Class Lounge Dining’ and ‘Best Airline in the Middle East.’
Qatar Airways currently flies to more than 150 destinations worldwide, connecting through its Doha hub, Hamad International Airport, named the ‘Best Airport in the World’ by Skytrax World Airport Awards 2022.
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