Qatar Airways maiden flight to Abidjan takes off

Water salute being given to Qatar Airways inaugural flight at Abidjan airport

* Airline now operates three weekly flights to Côte d’Ivoire, via Accra. * Qatar Airways travellers from Africa can enjoy baggage allowances ranging from 46 Kg for Economy Class split over two pieces and 64 Kg split over two pieces in Business Class Qatar Airways' debut flight to Abidjan, the largest city in Côte d’Ivoire, landed Wednesday at Felix Houphouet Boigny International Airport. With three weekly flights, the service between Doha and Abidjan via Accra will be operated by the airline’s state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class, along with capacity of up to 15 tonnes of cargo, the airline said in a press statement Wednesday. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, HE Akbar Al Baker, said: "Launching flights to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire - our fourth new destination in Africa since the start of the pandemic, after having recently launched Abuja in Nigeria; Accra in Ghana; and Luanda in Angola is a significant step in our African growth. This is testament to our commitment to the African continent where we now operate over 100 weekly flights to 25 destinations in 18 countries via our home and hub, Hamad International Airport." The crew of the inaugural flight “At Qatar Airways, being there for our passengers, trade partners and corporate customers has been our major focus since the start of the pandemic. We thank the government of Côte d’Ivoire for their support to launch these flights, and we look forward to working closely with our partners here to grow this route and support the recovery of tourism and trade in this region. As global travel recovers in 2021, we look forward to further expanding our network and offering more connections to and from Africa.” The launch of Abidjan also supports increased demand for trade between Côte d’Ivoire and destinations on the Qatar Airways network such as Paris, Beirut and many points in the Indian subcontinent. With up to 15 tonnes of cargo capacity on the aircraft per flight, Qatar Airways Cargo will play a key role in facilitating key exports from Côte d’Ivoire. Qatar Airways travellers from Côte d’Ivoire can now enjoy new baggage allowances ranging from 46 Kg for Economy Class split over two pieces and 64 Kg split over two pieces in Business Class. This initiative is designed to offer passengers more flexibility and comfort when travelling on board Qatar Airways. More information can be had from here. The global Covid-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for the aviation industry and, despite this, Qatar Airways never ceased operations and worked diligently to take people home safely and reliably throughout the crisis. The airline has also added seven new destinations in the past 12 months including San Francisco and Seattle in the US, Abuja, Accra and Luanda in Africa, and Brisbane and Cebu in Asia Pacific. Qatar Airways has become the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star Covid-19 Airline Safety Rating by international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax. This follows HIA’s recent success as the first and only airport in the Middle East to be awarded a Skytrax 5-Star Covid-19 Airport Safety Rating. For full details of all the measures that have been implemented on board and in HIA, please visit qatarairways.com/safety. A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, ‘World’s Best Business Class’, and ‘Best Business Class Seat’, in recognition of its ground-breaking Business Class experience, Qsuite. Qsuite is available on flights to more than 40 destinations including Milan, New York, Paris and Singapore. Qatar Airways is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted ‘Skytrax Airline of the Year’ title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times. In addition to this, Qatar Airways home and hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA) was ranked the ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ for the sixth consecutive year and rose to ‘Third Best Airport in the World’ by the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2020. Flight Schedule Monday, Wednesday & Friday: (All times local) Doha (DOH) to Abidjan (ABJ) QR1423 departs: 02:30 arrives: 09:10 Abidjan (ABJ) to Doha (DOH) QR1424 departs: 17:20 arrives: 06:10 +1