Qatar Airways has welcomed Abidjan to its global network as its debut flight to the largest city in Côte d’Ivoire lands at Felix Houphouet Boigny International Airport.

With three weekly flights, the service between Doha and Abidjan via Accra will be operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in business class and 232 seats in economy, along with capacity of up to 15 tonnes of cargo.

Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “Launching flights to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire - our fourth new destination in Africa since the start of the pandemic, after having recently launched Abuja in Nigeria; Accra in Ghana; and Luanda in Angola is a significant step in our African growth.

“This is testament to our commitment to the African continent where we now operate over 100 weekly flights to 25 destinations in 18 countries via our home and hub, Hamad International Airport.”

He added: “At Qatar Airways, being there for our passengers, trade partners and corporate customers has been our major focus since the start of the pandemic.

“We thank the government of Côte d’Ivoire for their support to launch these flights, and we look forward to working closely with our partners here to grow this route and support the recovery of tourism and trade in this region.”

The launch of Abidjan also supports increased demand for trade between Côte d’Ivoire and destinations on the Qatar Airways network such as Paris, Beirut and many points in the Indian subcontinent.

With up to 15 tonnes of cargo capacity on the aircraft per flight, Qatar Airways Cargo will play a key role in facilitating key exports from Côte d’Ivoire.