Qatar Airways opens new offices in Amman

AMMAN — Transport Minister Anmar Khasawneh and Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker on Monday cut the ribbon to officially open the new offices of Qatar's national carrier in Amman. 

The ceremony was attended by Tourism Minister Majd Shweikeh, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Muthana Gharaibeh, Jordan's Ambassador to Qatar Zaid Lozi, Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission Chief Haitham Mesto and Mohammed Khalifa Abdullah Al Sada, chargé d'affaires of the embassy of Qatar to the Kingdom.

Transport Minister Khasawneh welcomed the opening of the new office in Amman, voicing hope that this will be one step of many for Qatar to boost its investments in Jordan, commending the bilateral relations and highlighting the importance of removing any hindrances facing cooperation in the transport sector. 

"The Jordanian market is important for Qatar Airways, we have three daily flights to Amman on our large aircrafts, including Airbus 350A," Al Baker said in a press conference held at Four Seasons Hotel in Amman.

"Opening our new offices in Amman is a response to the increasing demand on our flights, and we look forward to boosting our offers and services in Jordan, and we are sure the new building will help us to achieve that," he said, noting that Jordan is among the only three countries in which Qatar Airways has built an office besides Oman and the UK.

Al Baker highlighted the services that Qatar Airways provides as well as its strong partnership with Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ), noting that the new building might help employ more Jordanians in different fields at Qatar Airways. 

The first flights of Qatar Airways to Amman were carried out in 1994, only one year after the establishment of the company in 1993. Currently the carrier sends 21 flights weekly from Doha to Amman and employs 400 Jordanians. 

In 2015, Qatar Airways and RJ signed a codeshare agreement to allow passengers of both carriers to reach more destinations around the world, recently covering east Asian countries through the Qatar Airway operations centre at Hamad International Airport.

Qatar Airways has over 250 planes in its fleet, serving more than 160 global destinations, while launching new flights to Izmir in Turkey, Rabat in Morocco, Malta, Davao in the Philippines, Lisbon in Portugal and Madagascar, according to Al Baker, who said there will also be flights to Gaborone in Botswana by this October.