Qatar Airways has announced an expansion of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner route network to India with the launch of services to and from Kolkata starting December 1, 2015. The increase in demand for travel to and from the region has resulted in the introduction of the state-of-the-art Dreamliner on the daily flights between Doha and Kolkata bringing an additional capacity of more than 76 per cent compared to the A320 which is being operated on the route. Qatar Airways’ daily seat capacity to Kolkata has nearly doubled from 144 seats on the A320 to 254 seats on the 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Qatar Airways currently operates the 787 Dreamliner twice daily to capital city Delhi. Ihab Sorial, vice president Indian Subcontinent, Qatar Airways said, “We are delighted to introduce Qatar Airways’ Dreamliner service to Kolkata, which will not only offer an increase in capacity to the route but will also redefine the in-flight experience of our passengers travelling to Doha and beyond.”
Qatar Airways’ 787s provide a superior experience with spacious cabins and custom-made seats in both business and economy class. The airline has 254 custom-made seats across its 787 business and economy class cabins with specially designed interiors. Business class is configured in a 1–2–1 layout with 22 seats, while economy has 232 seats in a 3–3–3 layout. All seats in business class are reclinable with fully-flat beds.
India remains a key market for Qatar Airways having an extensive route network offering 95 passenger flights non-stop each week from 12 gateway cities to Doha. Currently, Indian operations cover services from Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai and Trivandrum. The airline recently announced further expansion in India with plans to re-launch operations to Nagpur, its 13th Indian gateway, with daily flights from December 1, 2015.