Qatar Airways continues its growth and expansion plans as it announces the launch of Canberra, Qatar Airways’ fifth Australian destination, in 2018.

The decision comes as the carrier continues to rejig its services following the recent GCC blockade of Qatar.

The political environment has meant the carrier is unable to offer services to Saudia Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

However, the carrier argues an “intelligent redeployment” of aircraft and crew to partner airlines such as British Airways and Royal Air Maroc ensures that planes do not sit idle.

Meanwhile, the airline has continued its robust expansion plans, launching service to exciting new destinations including Nice, France in July and Dublin, Republic of Ireland in June.

Qatar Airways chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “This announcement is yet another proud moment for Qatar Airways and another milestone in our increasing expansion plans.

“We are delighted to finally bring our award-winning service to Canberra in 2018, our ninth year of operation in Australia.

“As Australia’s capital city, Canberra is an important addition to our global route map and further boosts the existing strong ties between Australia and Qatar.

“We are confident our highly-acclaimed product will appeal greatly to government, business and leisure travellers alike and we look forward to welcoming our passengers on board very soon.”

With Canberra, the airline will be the first international carrier to offer Australia’s capital city daily scheduled flights to Doha via Sydney.

Qatar Airways’ second-daily Sydney flight will make its way on to Canberra commencing February 2018.

Return flights will be on a Canberra-Sydney-Doha routing.

Canberra flights will be served by a 358-seater Boeing 777-300 aircraft.

Qatar Airways inaugurated its first daily Sydney flight on March 1st, 2016, with great success, upgrading it to the superjumbo A380 just six months after the airline’s Sydney launch.

Stephen Byron, managing director of Canberra Airport, said the arrival of Qatar Airways was an exciting development in the fulfilment of a major goal: “We have had a long-held dream that we could connect Canberra with the rest of the world.

“The beginning of the Qatar Airways service in February provides seamless access to the major international hub of Doha, and a stepping off point for the Middle East, Europe and points beyond.

“We welcome Qatar Airways’ strong support for Canberra, and the people living in our wider region of around one million people.”

Qatar Airways daily flight from Canberra to Sydney and onward to Doha, will connect passengers to its global network of more than 150 destinations, of which more than 40 are in Europe.

The passenger aircraft features a total of 358 seats, with 42 seats in Business Class and 316 seats in Economy Class.