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Tribune News Network
Doha
LATIN America's leading airline showed strong support for Qatar this week when Qatar Airways (QA) hosted the LATAM Airlines Group Board of Directors for its first-ever meeting in Doha.
The board members, including Chairman of the Board Ignacio Cueto and Chief Executive Officer Enrique Cueto, arrived at Doha's state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport (HIA), after flying on QA flights from S'e3o Paulo, Brazil, and Madrid, Spain, allowing them to experience the airline's renowned world-class service for themselves.
While in Doha they were given an extensive tour of QA's hi-tech operational centre and technical facilities, as well as one of the airline's Airbus A350 aircraft.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar al Baker said:"We were delighted to extend the warmest of welcomes to LATAM's board members and offer them a taste of authentic Arabian hospitality. LATAM's presence here in Qatar sends an important signal that it is business as usual both for Qatar Airways and the State of Qatar, and that we continue to strengthen our links with our valued partners around the world. Qatar Airways has a very strong partnership with LATAM. We look forward to growing and expanding our presence in South America when we launch a brand new direct service between Doha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Santiago, Chile starting in early 2018."
During their two-day visit to Qatar, LATAM's Board of Directors was able to see first-hand QA's new operational base and facilities thanks to a personally-guided tour from Baker.
As well as touring the airline's Airbus A350-900, they visited the airline's cargo operations and technical hangar, where an aircraft was undergoing an inspection by engineers, the Integrated Operations Centre, where every QA flight around the world is managed, and world-class Hamad International Airport, complete with its modern and convenient airport hotel, luxurious First Class and Business Class lounges and Duty Free shops and luxury boutiques.
Links between LATAM and QA are extensive. Just this month QA started a new codeshare agreement with LATAM Airlines Brazil (part of the LATAM Airline Group), which includes new codeshares on LATAM's routes between S'e3o Paulo's Guarulhos Airport and 25 domestic cities across Brazil including Rio de Janeiro (GIG), Salvador (SSA), Campo Grande (CGR), Foz do Iguaçu (IGU) and Recife (REC).
Earlier this year, QA also announced it was leasing four LATAM Airlines Group Airbus A350-900 aircraft for up to a year, to meet increasing customer demand. LATAM A350s feature 30 Business Class seats and 309 Economy Class seats, giving QA the necessary capacity to meet growing demand. QA-configured A350s offer 36 seats in Business Class and 247 seats in Economy Class. QA currently operates a fleet of 19 Airbus A350-900s.
In December 2016, QA made a strategic investment by acquiring 10 percent of LATAM Airlines Group. June 2017 marked the seven-year anniversary of QA's operations to S'e3o Paulo, Brazil, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, as the award-winning airline continues to strengthen its presence in the region. QA's new service to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the flight going on to Santiago, Chile, will be operated by an Airbus A350-900, offering four flights a week between South America and Doha.
Qatar Airways Cargo has expanded its reach in South America, with its commencement of freighter services to S'e3o Paulo, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Quito, Ecuador, earlier this year. With the coming launch of cargo services to Rio, the new freighters aim to meet the growing demand for import and export trade in the region.
