Qatar Airways unveiled an aggressive expansion plan today, with plans to expand operations to India and Europe, and launch new flights into Australia from the start of the Northern Winter 2009 schedules.

Over the next nine months Qatar Airways will commence flights from Doha to Goa and Amritsar, taking their count to 11 destinations in India, Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, and two European cities which have not yet been announced.



Qatar Airways has a fleet of 68 aircraft out of which there are eight Boeing 777's; six Boeing 777-300ERs (extended range) and two February delivered Boeing 777-200LRs (long range). Qatar Airways is deploying the latter aircraft on its Doha-Houston service due to commence on March 30th. At close to 17 hours, it will be one of the longest non-stop flights in the world.

Qatar Airways Business Class seats

The Australian services will require the same Boeing 777-200LRs which will be joining the fleet during this year.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) on the most profitable airlines in the world, announced today further route adjustments as part of the 11 per cent reduction of capacity from April 2009 to March 2010.

While Bangalore remains unaffected, for now, most other gateways of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad have already been or are being affected by this latest announcement.

I cannot help but compare the withdrawal of services by most international carriers to the massive ramp-up by Emirates and other middle-east airlines in India.

When I visited the airport yesterday, during discussions with various friends, I was informed that the two of the three Emirates flights were going full, and the third was also respectable.

A number of changes have already been announced and some effected, including the withdrawal of service to Amritsar (from Feb 09) and Vancouver (from Apr 09), lower frequency of flights to India, as well as a cutback on the non-stop flights between Singapore and the USA.

A whopping 17 aircraft will be decommissioned from the operating fleet, up from an earlier forecast of four aircraft to be phased out.

The new changes shown below will be in effect from March 29 to October 24, unless specified otherwise:

Europe

For the London route, one of the three daily flights will be replaced with a B777-300ER plane from end-March.

The change in aircraft from the B747-400 will result in a seat count reduction of 97, a minus 7.5 per cent difference a day.

Flights to Manchester will be at three times weekly from May, down from the present five times weekly.

Australia

The frequency of service to Sydney will be reduced from four to three times daily till July.

North Asia

Services to Seoul will be reduced to twice-daily, from its already-reduced schedule of 17 times weekly. One flight will continue on to San Francisco.

Japan, the Singapore-Bangkok-Tokyo service will reduce from six to five flights per week.

China, flights to Beijing will decrease from 21 to 17 weekly. Guangzhou and Nanjing services will reduce to five and two per week respectively.

Flights to Hong Kong will be reduced from a weekly 42 to 35.

West Asia

Aside from already announced changes affecting Indian gateways (see details below), Colombo and Male will each be served by five flights per week, down from seven.

Southeast Asia

In the region, the Jakarta route will see a reduction from 56 to 49 a week, while Bangkok flights will be cut from 41 to 33 per week.

Other routes, such as Brisbane, Perth, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Rome will now be operated with variable frequencies depending on the season.

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Flights to India

Hyderabad-Singapore services, SQ439 and SQ438, will be reduced from four to three times weekly, with the suspension of the Saturday service from February 21.

SQ405 and SQ406, between New Delhi and Singapore, will be reduced from a six times weekly service, to five times weekly service. Changes will apply from March 10 to 24, as flights on Tuesdays during that period will be suspended.

For Mumbai and Singapore, services SQ421 and SQ422 will be progressively reduced from five to four times weekly services, starting February 27. Flights on Fridays will be suspended.

Morning flights to Chennai will be cut.

At one time, Singapore Airlines SQ was the most dominant international airline in Bangalore, operating 12 flights a week. A daily night flight and a morning flight 5 days a week.

No more. The new title holder is Emirates operating as many as 3 flights a day.

Citing diminishing demand, from October 26, 2008 onwards, SQ has discontinued the 5 a week morning flights, and will offer only a daily night flight.

Similar reductions in service have been made for Chennai. Singapore Airlines will stop its services to Amritsar from February 4, 2009.

These are just some of the reductions Singapore airlines is making at a global level. Flights from Singapore to Penang, Ho Chi Minh City, Osaka, Seoul, Cape Town are also facing reductions. Flights to the Middle East are being increased. For more information read their press release.

International flights are more valuable for BIAL the operators of Bengaluru International Airport. Each international flight brings in revenue greater than 5 domestic flights, not to mention revenues to the duty free shops and other retail outlets at the airport. With the loss of domestic flights, BIAL can ill afford to loose international flights as well.