Qatar Airways will resume flights to Casablanca and Marrakesh in Morocco on June 30, 2023, operating four times a week, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays. The flight will be operated with the Boeing 787-8 with 254 seats: 22 Business Class and 232 Economy Class seats. With the addition of Casablanca and Marrakesh, passengers can now enjoy connectivity to over 160 destinations across the airline’s extensive global network via Hamad International Airport (HIA). Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker, said: “The Qatar Airways’ flights to Casablanca and Marrakesh solidify our commitment to the Moroccan market and meet a strong demand for connectivity to these two beautiful and historic cities. The Fifa World Cup 2022 brought Qatar and Morocco together through football and bolstered our cultural and economic cohesion. Connecting through our Hamad International Airport offers passengers an unparalleled 5-star travel experience to over 160 destinations and continues to grow and expand our network.”<br/>
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Malaysia Airlines Bhd. will increasingly focus on the Indian market with the airline still not seeing China bounce back after its sudden reopening following years of Covid restrictions. “For now, our key emphasis is on the Indian network,” the carrier’s Chief Strategy Officer Bryan Foong said Tuesday. “For us, the emphasis of growth in India is exciting and it helps with our overall network flow as it feeds into other parts of our network.” Malaysia Airlines will operate 60 flights a week to South Asia this year, compared with just 27 services to China. It intends to explore new opportunities in China, but is taking a “cautious approach,” Foong said. China may take at least a year to get back to the air travel levels seen in pre-pandemic days as lingering testing requirements put off visitors, an airline lobby group in Asia said in February. Malaysia’s AirAsia X Bhd. meanwhile has said “a lot of people are still uncertain” about travel to and from Asia’s biggest economy. About 14.5m people traveled to and end from India in the three months ended Dec. 31, versus around 16.5m in the same period in 2019, showing that market has almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels. India was the world’s fastest growing aviation market before Covid destroyed travel globally. Malaysia Airlines is also focusing on shifting passenger capacity from domestic to international markets amid concerns of overcapacity among carriers at home, and keeping in mind other challenges like high fuel prices, rising interest rates and a strong dollar, CEO Izham Ismail said in November.<br/>
Australia's competition regulator on Wednesday re-authorised Qantas Airways and its budget arm Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd for a five-year continued coordination for two Jetstar Asian-based joint ventures - Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Japan. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had previously granted an interim authorisation to the company, saying the continued coordination allows Jetstar to operate as a single fully integrated organisation "on matters such as flight scheduling, sales and marketing, and pricing". The re-authorisation also allows continued coordination between Jetstar Japan and Japan Airlines under certain circumstances, the regulator said. "We believe the coordination is likely to result in public benefits by providing consumers with a wider choice of products, enhanced services, and more convenient flight times," ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said. "We have decided to grant re-authorisation for five years, instead of the 10 years sought, given the dynamic and rapidly evolving nature of the travel industry." The re-authorisation does not allow coordination between Qantas and Japan Airlines, the regulator added.<br/>