Fast-rising Middle East carrier Qatar Airways was talking new planes and new routes Thursday, announcing plans for major new destinations and saying it is in negotiations to buy 20 new aircraft.
The airline said it was in talks with both European manufacturer Airbus and US rival Boeing for the aircraft orders, while planning route expansion to New York, Hong Kong and Australia this year.
Chief executive Akbar Al-Baker said the airline expects to make a decision by the end of March on its choice between the Boeing 777 or the Airbus A340 family.
"We are at the moment talking to both aircraft manufacturers for the additional order for 20 aircraft to see us through the end of this decade," Al-Baker told the Foreign Correspondents Association.
Qatar Airways currently has an all-Airbus fleet of 44 planes and is a launch customer of the double-decker A380, the world's biggest passenger liner, which the carrier will start to operate in early 2009.
Asked why the carrier was talking to Boeing when it already has an all-Airbus fleet, Al-Baker said it was because the US aerospace giant "makes very nice airplanes too."
Al-Baker said he had held meetings with Boeing and Airbus executives on the sidelines of Asian Aerospace, the world's third-largest airshow which ends here on Sunday.
He said the planned orders will be on top of the 60 "firm orders" for the new-generation A350 aircraft from the European manufacturer.
The fleet build-up is underway as the airline announced a major global expansion drive that aims to add 10 new destinations a year.
"Our global expansion plan is huge," said Al-Baker, adding this is part of an overall vision to transform Qatar into a tourism hub in the Middle East with the construction of a new state-of-the-art airport in the capital Doha.
Qatar Airways currently flies to 69 destinations including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India and Asia, which Al-Baker described as "the centre of economic development over the next decade."
It plans to add 10 more destinations this year, including New York, Hong Kong and Australia, he said, declining to name the seven other routes.
The airline has been flying to cities which many of its competitors are avoiding including Yangon, the main city in military-ruled Myanmar, Alexandria in Egypt and Cape Town in South Africa.
"Of course people must be thinking that we were crazy when we launched Yangon. They said, 'who is going to go to Yangon?' But I'm really proud to say that... we are offloading passengers on our Yangon flights," he said.
He said almost 70 percent of available seats to Yangon are taken.
Al-Baker said the airline plans to have a fleet of 110 aircraft by 2015, including four of the giant 555-seat double-decker Airbus A380 - which it will start operating from 2009 - and 60 long-range A350 aircraft.
"These 60 are firm orders," Al-Baker said.
Qatar Airways will also be the first airline in the world to operate the long-haul A340-600, which Al-Baker said has been especially developed by the European aircraft-maker for Qatar Airways.
The A340-600 "will give us the capability to operate from our hub in Doha directly to Australia and directly to several cities on the eastern seaboard of the United States," he said.
Al-Baker said the airline considered Boeing's 787 Dreamliner but went for the A350 instead because Airbus gave it a "very good deal."
With its major fleet build-up, Qatar Airways hopes to add around 10 new destinations every year from 2005. By 2010 or 2011, it expects to be flying to between 100 and 115 destinations worldwide.
Relaunched in 1997, Qatar Airways has received several accolades, including four in November last year at the World Travel Awards in London. One of the awards was for best inflight service.
Iran tells Gulf states not to buy 'ineffective' US missiles