A Direct Airline Connection Zagreb – Doha

From 2012 onwards, Zagreb will benefit from a direct airline connection with Qatar’s capital Doha owing to Qatar Airways. The airline has announced the expansion of its route network with the addition of seven new direct airline flights – two of them to Europe, more precisely to Zagreb and Helsinki.

Of the seven new direct flights to be launched in 2012 by Qatar’s national airline Qatar Airways, one will provide a direct connection between the Croatian capital and Qatar’s capital Doha. Qatar Airways already connects Doha with a number of other European cities, and as of next year Zagreb and Helsinki will become part of the airline's route network. The latter will become the fourth Nordic route served by Qatar Airways, which has already successful operations in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo. 

Qatar Airways started its successful expansion onto the global market in 1997. Fifteen years later, it is considered one of the fastest expanding airlines in the world.   

The launch of the seven new routes is a logical sequel to the airline’s business expansion. In 2011, for example, it added as many as 14 new airline routes to its network – Bucharest, Sofia, Budapest, Brussels, Stuttgart, Oslo, Venice, Montreal, Alep (Syria), Shiraz (Iran), Medina (Saudi Arabia), Kolkata (India), Benghazi (Libya) and Entebbe in Uganda.  

Even before these new airline routes are rolled out, the Doha-based Qatar Airlines already connects a total of 109 key economic and tourist markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, North and South America and Australia.  

The opening of a direct airline connection with Zagreb will certainly prompt more significant arrivals from that market and it will also be conducive to creating stronger economic ties between the two states. 

Qatar is a relatively unknown destination to the citizens of Croatia so it is noteworthy to mention that international exchange is highly appreciated: the country is currently home to a domicile population of approximately 400 thousand and over one million foreigners. Owing to the large reserves of gas and oil, Qatar ranks among the top 20 most affluent countries in the world with the highest per capita income and an unemployment rate of around 0.5 per cent; the country expects to continue on the path of high economic stability over the period of the next ten years. Moreover, Doha has been selected to host the World Football Championship in 2022.