Monday, July 30, 2007 Airline eyes bigger share of Filipino int’l travelers
AS IT positions to become one of the world’s five-star airline company, Qatar Airways is now attracting “premium class” traffic from the Philippines.
Rohan Seneviratne, Qatar Airways area manager for Philippines and Micronesia, said he has observed a growing market of “high class” leisure travelers in the country, especially in Cebu, who frequent Europe and the Middle Eastern countries.
“As we move to be a five-star airline, our new strategies and plans in the next few months is to attract traffic from the premium class market here,” he said.
While it mainly caters to overseas Filipino workers and expatriates at present, Qatar Airways is now opening doors to other market segments.
This is why, Mary Rose Macapagal, Qatar Airways Cebu and south Philippines district sales manager, said the company will intensify its advertising and marketing strategies.
The airline also plans to improve aircraft facilities to cater to the “affluent,” and add flight frequencies, she said.
Rewards
Qatar also offers its premium class passengers privilege club memberships, depending on the number of flights taken by the passenger. Rewards include free trips abroad or additional free luggage allowance.
High-end travelers also have the option to choose first class accommodation from Doha to any destination in the Middle East and Europe, Macapagal said.
She said, though, that at present the airline still does not have first class seats for Cebu-Doha and Manila-Doha destinations.
“In the Philippines, the business class is still quite attractive but if we see a demand then maybe we can open a first class for the Philippines,” Seneviratne said.
He added that Qatar Airways is “constantly” evaluating plans to add flight frequencies from Cebu to Doha, Qatar considering that the airline receives full bookings each flight.
Macapagal said the airline also gets bookings from expatriates and Filipinos who travel to Jerusalem and Rome, among others, for pilgrimages.
“We’re still okay for now,” she said, adding that the airlines averages about 800 passengers per week.
Growing traffic
Meanwhile, Macapagal said while the company is luring locals to visit Europe and the Middle East with Doha as the gateway, Qatar Airways and Philippine tourism stakeholders have been marketing Cebu and the entire country as a leisure and business destination in Asia.
“Our traffic to Cebu is growing, flights are full,” she told reporters during the company’s product presentation at the Cebu City Marriott Hotel Friday.
She said European travelers account for 70 to 80 percent of the airline’s passengers.
Qatar Airways, Qatar’s flag carrier, has been operating three times weekly flights direct from Doha, Qatar to Cebu since 2003. The average travel time is nine and a half hours.
It also operates nine weekly flights from Manila to Doha.
The airline flies to 78 destinations worldwide. Recently, it introduced flights from Doha to Washington D.C., and New York.
By November this year, it will add Stockholm, Sweden to its list of destinations.
With 54 aircraft carriers to date, Qatar Airways is determined to double its fleet by 2015 as it sets to acquire 60 new generation Airbus A350s and 20 Boeing 777s, worth a total $15.2 billion, Macapagal said earlier.
She said the new carriers are scheduled for delivery in 2009 to coincide with the opening of the redeveloped New Doha International Airport. (MMM)
