SAUDI Arabia's Minister of Transportation Suleiman Al Hamdan has recognized Qatar Airways for its continued dedication to the Kingdom and its role as Qatari Pilot sponsor of the Global Ministerial Aviation Summit, recently held in Riyadh. Qatar Airways shares the Summit's vision for aligning safety and security measures, establishing effective regional cooperation within the aviation industry, and overcoming safety challenges. Qatar Airways Senior Vice President International and Government Relations Ali Al Rais received the honour on behalf of the airline. "Saudi Arabia is a hub for tourism in the GCC. We are proud to serve eight destinations within the Kingdom, and are honored to support the development of the aviation industry through events such as this," he said. "It is our privilege to receive this accolade for our commitment to serving travellers to Saudi Arabia, and we would like to thank His Excellency Sulaiman Al Hamdan for his kind recognition." Summit attendees had the opportunity to visit Qatar Airways' exhibition stand throughout the three-day event, at which the airline shared its latest offers and highlighted its strong route connectivity between its home airport, Hamad International Airport in Doha. Qatar Airways has recently increased its services to Riyadh by more than 40 percent, operating 20 flights per week from the Saudi capital to Hamad International Airport, from which passengers can connect to the award-winning airline's extensive network of more than 150 destinations via its state-of-the-art hub at Hamad International Airport in Doha. The airline's frequency from Doha to Medina has also increased to three flights a day from the beginning of September. Qatar Airways serves eight cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is operates a total of 143 flights a week, from Doha to Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Medina, Hofuf, Gassim, Taif, and Abha. Qatar Airways is one of the fastest growing airlines operating one of the youngest fleets in the world. Now in its 19th year of operations, the airline operates a modern fleet of 190 aircraft flying to more than 150 key business and leisure destinations across six continents. This year travellers will continue to see Qatar Airways expand its global reach, with over a dozen new destinations to explore. So far in 2016, the airline has launched routes to Los Angeles (USA), Ras Al Khaimah (UAE), Sydney (Australia), Boston (USA), Birmingham (UK), Adelaide (Australia), Yerevan (Armenia), Atlanta (USA), Marrakech (Morocco) and Pisa (Italy). New routes including Windhoek (Namibia), Helsinki (Finland), Krabi (Thailand), and Seychelles will follow later in the year.
