RAJESH MISHRA

DOHA THE US-based United Airlines will launch its first daily flight from Doha to Washington on Wednesday, the airline’s Vice- President Sales (Atlantic and Pacific) Jim Mueller has said.

Earlier, the airline’s maiden flight from Washington landed in Doha on Tuesday.

Speaking at a gala dinner hosted by the airline on the occasion of the arrival of its first flight to Doha, Mueller on Tuesday remarked, “It is an exciting moment in the history of United Airlines. The airline launched its inaugural flight from Washington on Tuesday. It’s first flight from Doha will take off on Wednesday.” “Doha is our gateway to the Middle East. The fast growing city has a lot of promise and we wish to bring scores of American tourists to Qatar. Although, the current flight will go via Dubai, we have already started receiving requests for direct flights between Doha and Washington,” Mueller said.

The flight will provide easy connections to New York, San Francisco and around 228 cities in North America. “We look forward to tremendous growth within the region with our association with Qatar”, he said.

The 14-hour flight from Doha will depart at around 6.30 am, sources said.

Earlier, the flight from Washington DC arrived in Doha at around 6.30 pm on Tuesday. Doha is the fourth city in the Gulf region to be served by United, which already flies to Dubai, Kuwait City and Bahrain.

The Doha-Dubai- Washington DC service is being operated by Boeing 777 aircraft, with a total of 269 seats – eight in United First, 40 in United Business, and 221 in United Economy, including 104 Economy Plus seats with increased leg space.

Prior to Mueller’s speech, a cake was cut by a host of dignitaries including the sponsor of United Airline’s General Sales Agent Trans World Travel Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Mohamed al Thani, the Chairman of the Ali Bin Ali Group and Managing Director of Qatar Tribune Adel Ali bin Ali, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US embassy in Qatar Mirembe Nantongo and the Vice-President of the airline for Atlantic and Pacific Sales Jim Mueller. Also present on the occasion were the Minister of State HE Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Saud al Thani and the Editor-in-Chief of Qatar Tribune Dr Hassan Mohammed al Ansari.