DAVAO CITY—Qatar sent its inaugural direct flight here on Tuesday from its capital in Doha, to signal the start of a weekly flight to southern Philippines, where many migrant workers in the Middle East also trace their hometowns.
The inaugural flight brought here 50 passengers, including overseas Filipino workers, airline top-ranking executives and Filipino diplomats in Doha.
Qatar Airways Flight QR936 departed Hamad International Airport in Doha at 2:45 a.m. on Tuesday and landed in Davao at 5:20 p.m. It was welcomed with the traditional celebratory water-cannon salute.
Ambassador of the Philippines to the State of Qatar Alan Timbayan was joined by Qatar Airways Senior Vice President Asia Pacific Marwan Koleilat onboard Qatar Airways’s inaugural flight to Davao.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in a statement his company “is very proud to extend its reach into the Philippines by launching our third gateway into this beautiful country.”
“The inclusion of Davao into our global network further demonstrates our commitment to the Far East region, a highly important market for Qatar Airways. With 50 weekly passenger flights to and from the Philippines, we take great pride in our role of enabling trade and connecting international businesses,” he said.
Also welcoming him was Davao International Airport Manager Engr. Rex A. Obcena, who described the city as having “numerous beaches and resorts, on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, is a coastal commercial center near Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak. Davao City is the largest city outside of Manila and the fourth largest in the Philippines in terms of population, with over 1.4 million residents.”
Davao City now becomes its third Philippine destination after Manila and Cebu. The company said it would serve this route once a week with a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which has 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class.
It said its direct flight between Davao and Doha would open to Davao exporters direct connection to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas via Doha.
The weekly flight here would take the same inaugural flight time on Friday, leaving Doha for Davao (QR936) at 2:45 a.m. and arriving at 8:50 p.m. It would leave Davao at 10:20 p.m. and arrive in Doha at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday.
2 comments
There is an error in the article. QR flies to Manila, Davao and Clark. It does not fly to Cebu, though it did previously.
they cannot compete with Cebu Pacific for Cebu bound and origin passengers…