Qatar Airways has announced it will launch flights to a fifth gateway to China through the western city of Chongqing from November 28.

Operating three-times-a-week, the non-stop service from the airline’s hub in Doha, will take the carrier’s capacity to China up to 28 flights a week.

The airline already operates daily non-stop flights from Doha to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou and four flights every week to Beijing.

The new Chongqing service will be operated with an Airbus A330 in a two-class — business and economy — configuration.

“With a population of just over 30 million people, Chongqing has a large industrial catchment area and is a prime example of Qatar Airways placing strategic importance into emerging cities around the world,” an airline spokesman said.

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is one of the biggest airports in western China serving a large domestic market with limited international flights. Global access is typically via Hong Kong, Beijing or Shanghai.

Chongqing is a major manufacturing centre and a key transportation hub located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, a vitally important shipping waterway in China.

With Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, it is also one of only four municipalities in China which report directly to the national government.

Qatar Airways now flies to over 100 diverse business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America with a modern fleet of 98 aircraft.

By 2013, the airline plans to serve more than 120 destinations worldwide with a fleet of over 120 aircraft.

Over the last seven months, Qatar Airways has added 10 new routes to its global network — Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary), Brussels (Belgium), Stuttgart (Germany), Aleppo (Syria), Shiraz (Iran), Venice (Italy), Montreal (Canada), Medina (Saudi Arabia) and Kolkata (India).

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