January 16, 2020: On the opening day of the Kuwait Aviation Show, Qatar Airways announced its launch to eight new destinations in 2020.

The new destinations include: Accra, Ghana - daily flights (April 15, 2020); Luanda, Angola - four-weekly flights (October 14, 2020); Trabzon, Turkey - three-weekly flights (May 20, 2020); Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan - two-weekly flights (March 30, 2020); Almaty, Kazakhstan - two-weekly flights (April 1, 2020, increasing to four-weekly flights from May 25, 2020); Cebu, Philippines - three-weekly flights (April 8, 2020); Lyon, France - five-weekly flights (June 23, 2020); and Siem Reap, Cambodia - five-weekly flights (November 16, 2020).

Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways group chief executive; and Engineer Badr Al Meer, chief operating officer, Hamad International Airport hosted a number of dignitaries at the carrier's chalet, including Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Deputy Amiri Diwan Minister in the State of Kuwait; and Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, director-general, General Directorate of Civil Aviation - Kuwait.

Al Baker, said, "The Kuwait Aviation Show is the perfect platform for us to kick start the New Year and unveil some of our exciting plans for 2020. Eight new destinations will be joining our network this year in addition to the recently announced gateways of Santorini, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Osaka, Japan. With these new routes, our operations will expand to 177 destinations around the world, reinforcing our position as one of the world's most connected airlines. This ensures we can continue to provide our passengers with more options and flexibility when planning their business and leisure travel."

Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of more than 250 aircraft via its hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), to more than 160 destinations worldwide. The world's fastest-growing airline added several exciting new destinations to its growing network last year, including Rabat, Morocco; Izmir, Turkey; Malta; Davao, Philippines; Lisbon, Portugal; Mogadishu, Somalia; Langkawi, Malaysia; and Gaborone, Botswana.

In Eastern Africa, Qatar Airways fly daily to Entebbe in Uganda, using a B787 and additional capacity is planned in 2020 when several of the weekly flights routing via Kigali will be delinked and become a direct turnaround service. In Kenya, Qatar Airways serves Nairobi three times a day while flying five times a week to Mombasa. In Tanzania - Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar are the regular destinations in the airline's network.

On January 14, Qatar Airways Cargo has expanded its cargo network in Asia-Pacific with the launch of twice-weekly B777 freighter service to Osaka, Japan. Additionally, it has announced a major expansion in South America with four new freighter destinations Campinas (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Bogot (Colombia) launching on January 16, 2020, and Lima (Peru) to be launched soon.