Qatar Airways, a Qatar based airline company, will be putting its initial Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in to service on flights between London Heathrow and Doha from December 2012.
The airline chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, commenting on the announcement, also said that he is in favour of an additional runway at London Heathrow airport.
He said, ‘Heathrow is bursting at the seams and has already reached a critical point.
Already heading towards a double dip recession, the UK cannot afford to lose out on the huge benefits a third runway would bring to the economy in south east England and the country as a whole through the creation of more jobs and more business opportunities.
No capacity increase will inevitably lead to further economic hardship with job losses and businesses closing down.
Heathrow is already losing out to European neighbouring hubs that have the resource to expand capacity.
Measures to expand need to be taken soon to avoid a catastrophic situation in the future. The UK government cannot afford to immerse itself in long-winded debate and public enquiries. Action needs to be taken.’
The airline is to introduce its Boeing Dreamliner aircraft on its Heathrow to Doha services, as part of its expanded services from London.
Said Baker, ‘With our Boeing 787 Dreamliner entering London Heathrow as our first long-haul route with this aircraft in a few weeks’ time, this demonstrates the level of confidence we have in our UK operations. The government needs to understand the importance of allowing airlines to expand and keep them at Heathrow otherwise there is a risk carriers will move away.’
