The first Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Canberra, the capital city of Australia, touched down at Canberra Airport earlier, where it was welcomed with a celebratory water cannon salute.

Qatar Airways has taken delivery of its fourth state-of-the-art Gulfstream G650ER executive aircraft, the fastest ultra-long-range business jet in the world. The latest aircraft delivery makes Qatar Airways the world’s largest owner-operator of Gulfstream G650ERs.

Qatar Airways is continuing its expansion in Asia by adding an additional flight to Bangkok, providing its passengers even more flexibility in visiting the Thai capital. The new service to Bangkok, which commences on March 25th, is part of the airline’s continued expansion in south-east Asia, following its launch of direct service to Thailand’s Chiang Mai late last year.

Qatar Airways’ first non-stop flight from Doha to St. Petersburg landed earlier at Pulkovo Airport, marking the airline’s second gateway in Russia. Qatar Airways flight QR279, today operated by the state-of-the-art Boeing B787 Dreamliner, departed Hamad International Airport at 07:30, and arrived at Pulkovo Airport at 13:50.

Qatar Airways has released its latest TV commercial and social media campaign, highlighting the airline’s contribution to the US economy and taking its message directly to the American people: “Our success is also America’s shared success.”

The A350-1000, the newest member of Airbus’ leading wide-body family, has successfully completed its functional and reliability testing. The news brings the aircraft a step closer to type certification, which will hopefully be secured this month.