Qatar Airways has announced it will commence four times weekly, non-stop service to Las Vegas, Nevada, starting January next year.

The new route will be the airline’s eleventh to the United States, connecting McCarran International Airport to Hamad International Airport in Doha, making Qatar Airways the first Gulf carrier to provide regular scheduled service to Las Vegas.

“Las Vegas is a thriving leisure destination and adding the city to our route map has been long overdue.

“Growing our western United States network is important to the airline as we are seeing exponential growth in passenger demand from the East via our state of the art hub in Doha,” said Qatar Airways chief executive, Akbar Al Baker.

“Our passengers appreciate the glamour, style and allure of Las Vegas and beginning in 2018, we are going to give our passengers from around the world direct and convenient access to this unique capital of entertainment.”

The new route also provides US-based flyers with an additional point of departure, when travelling abroad to Qatar Airways’ global network of over 150 destinations.

It will be Qatar Airways’ second route from the American west, after the airline launched their popular Los Angeles to Doha route, in January 2016.

This year, Qatar Airways is celebrating its tenth anniversary of serving the United States, having started serving New York/Newark in 2007.