Qatar Airways deploys Boeing 777ER on Mumbai-Doha route

Qatar Airways said it has introduced state-of-the-art Boeing 777 aircraft on the Mumbai – Doha route, providing passengers on a short-haul flight with the superb in-flight facilities of a long-haul jetliner.

Qatar Airways had announced orders for 32 Boeing 777 Extended Range (ER) and Long Range (LR) aircraft at the Dubai Air Show last year. Two Boeing 777-300 ERs have been delivered, and apart from operating on the Mumbai route, also serve Doha – Washington non-stop every day with a flight time of around 14 hours.

Passengers on the Mumbai – Doha route will be able to continue onto Washington DC on the same aircraft or connect onto a diverse range of destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa or North America.

Starting 10 November, Qatar Airways will introduce the Long Range version of the Boeing 777 on the Doha – Houston route, the carrier's third US destination, with a flight time of under 17 hours non-stop.

Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 62 Airbus and Boeing aircraft to 82 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Far East and North America. The carrier's remaining 30 Boeing 777s will begin to be inducted into the Qatar Airways fleet from this summer.

Spacious cabins in both Business and Economy Class are a key feature of the Boeing 777 with Qatar Airways offering 42 seats in the premium cabin in a 2–2–2 configuration with an incredible seat pitch of 78 inches.

Economy Class has 293 seats in a 3–3–3 layout.

The Boeing 777s feature Qatar Airways' next generation Oryx Entertainment inflight entertainment system offering every passenger in both Business and Economy Class a choice of more than 700 audio and video options. The interactive service includes over 150 international movies, 150 TV programmes from around the world, and more than 50 games and 500 audio CDs to choose from.

The airline is one of an elite group of carriers with a Five Star ranking for service and excellence awarded by Skytrax, the independent aviation industry research company. Skytrax also named Qatar Airways' cabin crew as Best in the Middle East for the fifth year running in 2007 following a survey of more than 15 million passengers.

During the 2007/08 financial year, Qatar Airways expects to have carried around 10 million passengers worldwide.