Qatar Airways’ Doha, London, Dammam and Milan stations have won the airline’s coveted Outstanding Station Awards for sales performance, spearheading the airline’s strong sales growth in the 2003/2004 financial year.
Qatar Airways’ Chief Executive Officer Mr Akbar Al Baker presented the stations with their respective awards in a special ceremony yesterday, at the conclusion of the airline’s 2004/2005 Commercial Conference, that was held in Doha.

The winners of the different categories, based on the size and complexity of the station’s operations, were:

? Doha - Platinum Award
? London - Oryx Award
? Dammam - Gold Award
? Milan - Silver Award

“The performance of these stations, and other stations throughout the network has allowed Qatar Airways to increase its passengers sales revenue by 47 per cent and its cargo sales by 73 per cent in the last year,” said Mr Al Baker.

“Qatar Airways was able to exceed our sales targets by 21 per cent.

“I congratulate the four winners for their efforts and commitment to exceed the airline’s high expectations.

“The awards recognise that the four top stations performed exceedingly well in terms of revenue creation, and in terms of delivering a consistently high customer service level and product.

“Before any of our stations could even be considered for an award they had to meet 11 stringent criteria and convincingly exceed their budget targets for the year,” said Mr Al Baker.

During the last day of the conference, Mr Al Baker also unveiled the plans for the new Doha International Airport, which will open in 2008.

He explained to delegates that the new airport would allow Qatar Airways to grow and expand well into the future, and that the airport would set the service standards for all future airports.

In a separate presentation to the conference, Qatar Tourism Authority’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Fred van Eijk outlined a US$15 billion investment in tourism infrastructure in Qatar during the next several years.

Mr van Eijk said there would be a massive investment in new hotels and conference facilities, lifestyle cities, beach resorts, cultural projects and international sports facilities in the next four years that would enable Qatar to become a premier tourist destination.
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