Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive addresses International Aviation Summit in New Delhi

5 September 2018: Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker recently addressed key leaders in the aviation industry including government officials, airline CEOs, aviation industrialists and senior dignitaries among others, as part of the International Aviation Summit, a two-day event that recently took place in New Delhi, India.

Al Baker spoke at a panel discussion titled, ‘Can India be a global aviation leader?’ alongside India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu, as well as the CEOs of KLM, Kenya Airways, Spicejet and Jet Airways. The panel discussed the aviation operating environment in India and the opportunities that exist for the market to become the third largest globally by 2025.

Al Baker said, “The State of Qatar and India share a substantive and strong relationship that has evolved over the years, making India an important market for Qatar Airways. This is reflected by the 102 weekly flights we provide to 13 destinations across India.”

He also added, “India is on track to become the third largest global aviation market by 2025 and we are determined to further grow our presence in the Indian market and offer passengers the award-winning quality of service that they deserve. We recently launched our unique Qsuite Business Class product on the Mumbai and Bengaluru routes, to provide passengers with the best experience in the skies.”

The airline’s Cargo division, Qatar Airways Cargo, currently operates a total of 27 weekly freighters to India. The top three cargo destinations in India are Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, with five weekly frequencies to each.

The International Aviation Summit in Delhi, India was organised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to discuss the importance of the Indian aviation market, and what it will take for the aviation sector to expand in India while maximising the economic and social benefits of the potential growth.

In April 2018, India’s domestic aviation market celebrated its 44th straight month of double-digit growth, and expects to celebrate the 50-month achievement of double digit growth by October 2018. Consequently, the International Aviation Summit focused on key issues that India needs to address in the future, such as airport infrastructure, capacity constraints in Mumbai and taxes to name a few, in order to sustain its linear growth.