Extending a helping hand to China's ongoing efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, Qatar Airways will fly eight aircraft carrying medical aid to three Chinese cities on Friday.
CEO of Qatar Airways Group HE Akbar al-Baker said the planes will be transporting medical assistance from Qatar government, from Qatar Airways and various other countries and Chinese embassies around the world.
Speaking on the sidelines of a press conference to announce the 17th edition of Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition on Monday, he said that this step aims to send a message of support from the government and people of Qatar to the people of China, noting that Qatar Airways was the only global airline that offered to transport medical aid to China for free, and it has not stopped shipping operations after the outbreak of coronavirus in China.
While two flights will reach the Chinese capital Beijing, three each are scheduled for Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The eight flights will take off at an interval of four minutes each.
“Qatar Airways is not the only airline to incur losses due to the crisis in China. It has affected others too as China has the largest number of tourists in the world and anything that happens there must affect and reflect on the movement of tourists to and from China," al-Baker explained.
He added that the services to China were suspended not only due to the coronavirus outbreak, but also due to challenges being faced in operations as many countries have announced the ban on entry of crew that operate services to China.
Exuding confidence that the crisis will be sorted out soon, he said that Qatar Airways is currently studying options for modifying the operating systems to separate the crew of aircraft that go to China and other countries.
