Doha based Qatar Airways has launched new flights to South America as the demand for connections to the region grows from business travellers and tourists.
The flights, connecting out of Kuala Lumpur to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo and Argentine capital Buenos Aires, will operate four times a week.
Flights from Kuala Lumpur to Doha are operated with the airline’s Boeing 777-300 Extended Range fleet and also Airbus A330 aircraft while flights to Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires will be served from Doha with the airline’s flagship Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft, the company said.
It is part of a major expansion programme with plans to launch six new routes in Europe and Asia from October this year. These include daily flights to Phuket, four flights a week to Hanoi in Vietnam, thrice-weekly flights to the French Mediterranean city of Nice.
It is just one of the growing number of international companies that are increasingly looking to Central and South America for growth. US retail giant is expanding massively in Mexico and yesterday PriceSmart, operator of US style membership shopping warehouse clubs, announced it is buying 19,500 square meters of property in Barranquilla, Colombia, to open its first operation in the country.
It already operates 27 warehouse clubs including five in Costa Rica, four in Panama, four in Trinidad, three in Guatemala, two in the Dominican Republic, two in El Salvador, two in Honduras and one each in Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua and the United States Virgin Islands.
Italian firms are also involved in a major drive to win business in the region. Today Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is heading a business delegation from his country to Brazil to meet with a delegation of 60 business people and President Lula da Silva.
The two leaders will be meeting in Sao Paulo when the Italian leader will put forward his desire to have a share of the huge sub-salt oil deposits in Brazilian waters. Altogether investment projects worth at least US$10 billion are expected to be discussed.
Earlier this month Brasilia and Rome announced an agreement for the purchase of Italian frigates. The Brazilian Army has also confirmed it is purchasing armoured vehicles from the Italian conglomerate Fiat.
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