Qatar Airways is boosting its European services with a 40% increase in flights to France, Spain, Greece and Sweden from its Doha hub.

The airline will add three flights to Paris to offer a twice-daily service on this route from October and will launch a daily connection to Madrid from December.

In October, the carrier will add an extra weekly flight to Stockholm on the back of higher demand and the availability of new aircraft.

Akbar Al Baker, chief executive officer of Qatar Airways, said: “Europe is one of our most important regions, representing around 20% of our global coverage. With [an] almost 40% increase in frequency across four European capital cities from the start of the winter flying season in October, Qatar Airways is opening up greater opportunities to travel on business or leisure.”

“We are constantly looking at ways to offer our passengers improved levels of service, more choice and more connections across our global network,” he added.

The airline is also boosting its services to Athens to twice-daily. It is also extending its network to include the US cities of Philadelphia and Charlotte this year through a codeshare deal with US Airways.

Qatar Airways was voted “World’s Leading Business Class Airline” at the 2008 World Travel Awards Grand Final.