Qatar Airways to launch flights to Gassim, Saudi Arabia

Qatar Airways is planning to launch scheduled flights to Gassim, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on 7 January 2013. Gassim will become Qatar Airways’ fifth destination in the Kingdom, where it already serves Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Medina.

The Doha-based airline will operate four-flights-a-week to the central Saudi city of Gassim, offering travellers a greater choice of travel options to more than 100 destinations around the world served by the airline via its Doha hub.

The Gassim route will be operated with an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in First Class and 132 in Economy. Situated 400 kilometres northwest of Riyadh, Gassim is Saudi Arabia’s seventh most populated province with a rich agricultural industry.

 “Saudi Arabia’s aviation industry has experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years, reporting the strongest increase in passenger traffic in more than a decade in 2011, with more than 54 million passengers travelling from the country last year,” said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker. “With increased government investment in the private sector and major infrastructure developments underway, we are very excited about our expansion plans in the Kingdom.”

Today, Qatar Airways operates 60 flights a week across four destinations in Saudi Arabia. This will rise to 64 with the addition of Gassim.