1st Qatar Airways Doha-Sofia Flight Lands in Bulgaria

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker (walking in front) is welcomed at Sofia International Airport, arriving with the first Doha-Sofia flight. Photo by BGNES

Flight QR943 of Qatar Airways made its first ever landing in Bulgaria Wednesday, and was welcomed with an impressive ceremony at Sofia International Airport.

Qatar Airways' flight from Doha brought to Sofia a top-ranking delegation, including Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker, Bulgaria's Ambassador to Qatar Miroslav Zafirov, and journalists from the Persian Gulf states.

They were welcomed in Sofia by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Transport Minister Ivaylov Moskovski, and a myriad of other senior government officials.

Sofia, together with Bucharest, Budapest, Brussels, Stuttgart, and Venice, is among the new European destinations of Qatar Airways. Thus, Qatar Airways is already flying to 26 cities in Europe, which comprise 25% of its global network of over 100 destinations.

The new Doha-Sofia flights will be available every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

"We are extremely excited to add to Sofia to our international network of destinations. This way we are strengthening even more the traditionally excellent relations between our countries," stated Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker upon arriving in Sofia.

"We believe that Bulgaria will be a huge success for Qatar Airways, and that it will create new opportunities for both business and personal travel," he added.

Qatar's national carrier announced its plans for regular flights to Sofia airport a few months ago, saying the move is part of the company's expansion in Europe.

The flights will give customers the opportunity to transfer to more than 100 destinations worldwide, in particular the Middle East and the Asia Pacific.

The lowest price for a one way ticket from mid-September stands at EUR 608, shows the company's website. The company offers discounts for return tickets from Sofia to Singapore, Beijing, Maldives, Seychelles, Dubai, Shanghai, Delhi and others.

By the end of the year QA will open routes to Entebbe, Uganda (November 2), Baku, Azerbaijan (30 November), Tbilisi, Georgia (November 30). Last week the airline announced that it has signed an agreement to increase its presence in China.

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