Qatar Airways is actively exploring further growth opportunities in the Far East following the successful launch of flights to Tokyo, its new­est Asian destination, accord­ing to the airline’s Chief Ex­ecutive Officer Akbar Al Baker.Qatar Airways’ new direct daily services between Tokyo’s Narita International Airport and the Qatari capital of Doha, launched in April ahead of Japan’s an­nual Golden Week holiday, has become one of the company’s top performing routes within its first two months of operation.Last week, the airline announced new routes from Doha to Phuket in Thailand and Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi, to begin in October and November 2010 respectively, clearly signalling the airline’s commitment to the Asian market.In addition, the airline is stepping up frequency between Doha and Bangkok from double daily flights to three services a day from the end of October. With Tokyo, Qa­tar Airways’ Far East and South East Asian route network cur­rently stands at 15 destinations, representing almost 20 per cent of the carrier’s global coverage.“Qatar Airways is seeing strong demand for air travel from the entire Asian region and is plan­ning to open up a number of new routes in this vibrant region,” said Al Baker, speaking at a press conference in the Japanese capital yesterday to mark the of­ficial launch of flights to Tokyo.

Qatar Airways has been keen to tap into Tokyo with dedi­cated flights for many years but had been unable to do so due to limitations at Narita.“Qatar is also an important des­tination with over 1,000 Japa­nese expatriates living in Doha and over 30 leading Japanese companies engaged in business from across the utility, energy and heavy industry sectors.”Qatar Airways has boosted its route network this year with the addition of seven new routes – Bengaluru (Bangalore), Copen­hagen, Ankara, Tokyo, Barcelona, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires.