Adana airport welcomes 1st Qatar Airways flight

Doha: Qatar Airways is celebrating the launch of scheduled services to Adana following the arrival of its inaugural flight from Doha to Turkey’s fifth-largest city.
Flight QR438 touched down at Adana Airport at 11:25, where a welcome ceremony attended by airport and government officials, together with local dignitaries took place.
Ehab Amin, chief commercial officer - Qatar Airways led a high-profile delegation on the inaugural direct flight from the airline’s five-star hub, Hamad International Airport, Doha, and was greeted by Salem bin Mubarak Al Shafi, ambassador of the State of Qatar to Turkey, Mahmut Demirtaş, Governor of Adana, Mustafa Yavuz, assistant governor of Adana, Ahmet Bülbül, chief manager - State Airports Authority Adana Airport, as well as other VIPs and government officials.
“We are delighted to launch our first direct service to Adana, a much-anticipated addition to our expanding global network. Turkey remains one of our key target areas for growth and we have identified Adana as an important Turkish destination to include in our expedited expansion plans,” said Akbar Al Baker, group chief executive - Qatar Airways.
Amin said, “With the launch of this new service, we look forward to strengthening our ties with Turkey even further, and are delighted to be able to connect even more Turkish citizens to more than 150 global destinations via our five-star hub in Doha.”
Ahmet Bülbül, Adana Airport chief manager, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Qatar Airways flights to Adana, connecting passengers to destinations all over the world and enabling us to welcome the world to Adana. The State Airports Authority and Adana Airport Chief Management give Qatar Airways our full support and together we look forward to a successful future.”
Adana, located at the crossroads of Anatolia and the Middle East, is one of the most populous cities in Turkey. Passengers travelling to Adana can admire the magical sunsets over the Seyhan River, or taste the unique cuisine while enjoying a view of the river from one of the city’s dazzling rooftop restaurants. The sixteenth-century Great Mosque (Ulu Cami), Clock Tower, the old bazaar and Adana Archeological Museum are among other top sights of Adana.
Qatar Airways has successfully operated service to Turkey for 13 years. The airline began services to Istanbul Ataturk International Airport in 2004, marking Qatar Airways’ first destination in Turkey. Since then, due to tremendous passenger demand, the airline has been steadily increasing its number of flights to the country.
Qatar Airways launched services to Ankara in 2010 and flights to its second airport in Istanbul at Sabiha Gökçen Airport in May 2014. The award-winning airline currently operates three daily flights between Doha and Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, 10 weekly flights between Doha and Istanbul Ataturk International Airport and daily flights between Doha and Ankara. Qatar Airways will operate three times weekly to Adana, bringing the total number of flights operated by the airline to Turkey to 41 per week.
The Doha-Adana route is operated by an Airbus A320, featuring 12 seats in Business Class and 132 seats in Economy Class.
The introduction of three weekly belly-hold flights to Adana will provide efficient connections for garment and textile businesses in the city to the Middle East, Asia and India via Qatar Airways Cargo’s state-of-the-art Doha hub. Qatar Airways Cargo currently offers twice-weekly Airbus A330 freighters to Istanbul and 38 weekly belly-hold flights to the main airports in Istanbul and Ankara. With the new addition of Doha-Adana-Doha route, the cargo carrier aims to increase its market share in Turkey.