Qatar Airways has marked its seventh anniversary in Melbourne, Australia, by announcing plans to introduce its superjumbo A380 aircraft from the end of June 2017 to meet rising passenger demand.
The 517-seater A380 aircraft will increase Qatar Airways’ current daily capacity by 44 percent on this route to meet the growing travel and trade demand, the airline said in a statement.
Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said: “As we continue to grow apace in Australia, we have seen a clear need to inject additional capacity on the Melbourne service. We are delighted to introduce our A380 aircraft to Melbourne after seven years of operation to the world’s most liveable city.”
Melbourne is the original home for Qatar Airways in Australia, with the airline adding services to Perth, Sydney and Adelaide thereafter. The airline first started flying to Australia’s second largest city in December 2009 with a 259-seater B777 aircraft.
With the introduction of daily A380 services, capacity on the Melbourne route will have increased two-fold since 2009.
In addition to capacity increases in key cities, Qatar Airways continues to expand its global reach. In 2016 alone, Qatar Airways also launched services to Adelaide (Australia), Atlanta (USA), Birmingham (UK), Boston (US), Helsinki, (Finland), Los Angeles (US), Marrakech (Morocco), Pisa (Italy), Ras Al Khaimah, Mahé (Seychelles), Sydney (Australia), Windhoek (Namibia) and Yerevan (Armenia).