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Qatar Airways has today marked 10 years since first launching in the Australian market. To celebrate the milestone, the airline hosted a pop-up restaurant in Melbourne, with a specially curated menu to showcase Australian produce, highlighting its commitment to local growers and suppliers.

Qatar Airways first launched in Australia in December 2009, offering flights three times a week from Melbourne to Doha. The airline now operates 35 flights per week to and from Australia with flights operating from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, and Canberra. On a daily basis, Qatar Airways carries an average of over 1,700 passengers each way between Australia and Doha, with London and Athens being the top destinations for Australian passengers.

Since the commencement of services to Australia, Qatar Airways has carried just over 5.2 million passengers on its Australia flights; supporting Australia’s AUD $57 billion tourism industry. These services also help connect Australian exporters to the world via belly-cargo with trade between Australia and the State of Qatar valued at AUD $1.313 billion in 2018 to 2019.

The pop-up restaurant was at Melbourne’s iconic Albert Park, with celebrities including Australian television royalty Kerri-Anne Kennerley, models Erin Holland and Kris Smith, and Sydney Swans Co-Captains, Dane Rampe and Luke Parker in attendance.

Guests enjoyed the airline’s award-winning inflight dining experience, and were treated to an all Australian menu that will be available onboard in December on all flights from Australia to Doha. The menu features Yellowfin Tuna from Coral Bay, West Australia; King Prawns from Queensland; Lamb from Gippsland, Victoria; Blue-Eye Cod from Portland, Victoria; and shiraz wines from McLaren Vale, South Australia.

Qatar Airways’ Senior Manager for Australasia, Mr. Adam Radwanski, said: “This is an exciting milestone for us as we celebrate 10 years of taking Aussies around the world, and also bringing more tourists to this incredible country. In addition, it’s an important time for us to thank the Australian food and wine producers whom we have built strong relationships with over the past 10 years. We’re looking forward to the next 10 years and beyond, working more closely with farmers, growers and winemakers to share Australian produce with the world through our in-flight dining and export cargo.”

This year has seen several exciting additions to Qatar Airways’ Australian services, including the introduction of the airline’s award-winning Qsuite business class and the launch of the new Quisine dining experience for economy passengers, further cementing the airline’s commitment to the local market.

Qatar Airways is also celebrating with a 10th anniversary sale from today until 31st December, for great fares to Europe. To book visit qr.com/au or your preferred travel agent.

Qatar Airways was recently named ‘Airline of the Year’ for the fifth time by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named ‘World’s Best Business Class’, ‘Best Business Class Seat’, and ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’.

The national carrier for the State of Qatar currently operates a modern fleet of more than 250 aircraft via its hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA) to more than 160 destinations worldwide. The airline has launched a host of exciting new destinations in 2019, including Lisbon, Portugal; Malta; Rabat, Morocco; Davao, Philippines; Izmir, Turkey; Mogadishu, Somalia and Langkawi, Malaysia. Gaborone, Botswana will be added in 2019 and Luanda, Angola; and Osaka, Japan will be added to the airline’s growing network in 2020.