Qatar Airways is Qatar's national airline. Annual passenger growth amounts to about 40%. Qatar Airways is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. Although Qatar Airways does not belong to an alliance, the airline has a connection with other airlines by code sharing with All Nippon Airways, British Midland, Lufthansa and the Star Alliance.
Fleet
Qatar Airways' fleet consists of 59 Airbus- and 13 Boeing aircraft. The average age of the aircraft is 3.4 years. The airline flies with 5 Boeing 777-200, 8 B777-300, 3 Airbus A300-600R, 2 Airbus A319-100, 13 Airbus A320-200, 8 Airbus A321-200, 16 Airbus A330-200, 13 Airbus A330-300 and 4 Airbus A340-600.
History
Qatar Airways is a very young airline which was established in 1993. The airline began operating flights in January 1994. The fleet consisted mainly of used aircraft which had been purchased from All Nippon Airways and Qatar Amiri Flight. After experiencing some loss for the first few years, management decided to restructure the company at the end of the 1990s. The royal family now only owns 50% of Qatar Airways shares.
In October 2009, Qatar Airways made the news when it operated its first passenger flight using an alternative fuel based on natural gas. As a result of this flight from London to Doha and the company's commitment to the research and development of projects to benefit the environment and increase energy efficiency, the company was awarded the environmental Airline Strategy Award in the summer of 2010.
Network
Flights are operated to more than 82 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.