atar Airways added Medan as its third destination in Indonesia on Monday with an inaugural direct flight landing at Kualanamu International Airport.
The new Doha-Medan route adds to the airline’s daily flights to Jakarta and Bali, it said in a media release on Tuesday.
The flight’s passengers were greeted with cupcakes and music at the departure gate of Hamad International Airport in Doha.
The plane carried officials who were welcomed at Kualanamu International Airport with a water cannon salute and by government officials and other dignitaries.
The Doha-Medan route will be flown on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Flight QR966 departs Doha at 2:40 a.m. and arrives in Medan at 1:30 p.m. The returning flight, QR967, departs Kualanamu at 7 p.m. and arrives in Doha at 10:15 p.m. All times are local.
The new direct service to Medan uses a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that has 22 business class seats and 232 economy class seats.
The inaugural flight offered Indonesian cuisine, such as nasi goreng with beef sate and nasi lemak with prawn sambal in business class, while passengers in economy class were offered beef rendang.