Qatar Airways celebrated the launch of its new scheduled flights from Gassim with a corporate dinner attended by business leaders in the province this week. Following on from an exciting launch into the carrier's fifth gateway in Saudi Arabia, in which Qatar Airways' inaugural flight to Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport received a warm welcome ceremony, senior airline executives hosted the local business community to an evening of fine hospitality. In line with the airline's world-renowned hospitality, Qatar Airways held the event in a unique venue, a farmhouse on the outskirts of the city. Fathi Al Shehab, Qatar Airways Senior Vice President GCC, Levant, Iran and Indian Subcontinent, flew in from the Qatari capital on the first flight to host the dinner, joined by Ishfaq Jalal, Country Manager Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Commercial Manager Ebrahim Rasool. The Doha – Gassim route has performed exceptionally well in the first few days of operations, joining highly successful services to and from the carrier's other Saudi gateways of Jeddah, Riyadh, Madinah and Dammam. Fathi Al Shehab said “Qatar Airways extends sincere thanks and appreciation to our corporate partners for joining us for an evening of fine hospitality to mark the arrival of Qatar Airways to Gassim.” “We look forward to a great working relationship with the business and leisure community here in Gassim promoting our newest route in the Kingdom. We have been extremely delighted by the response so far on the route with excellent passenger loads which demonstrates how much the local market wanted an airline that truly connects Gassim to rest of the world.” Ishfaq Jalal added: “With the addition of Gassim, there is now much greater opportunity for the people of Gassim and across the province to travel the world with Qatar Airways and enjoy the exciting destinations we have in our network.” Qatar Airways today operates a total of 65 flights each week across the five cities it serves to and from the Kingdom. The award-winning Doha-based airline is operating four-flights-a-week from Gassim to over 120 diverse cities Qatar Airways flies to via its Doha hub. These include Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Houston, London, Paris, Zurich and Stockholm. Qatar Airways currently flies to 123 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America with a modern fleet of 117 aircraft. — SG
