Qatar Airways on Wednesday, celebrated the start of its new non-stop service to Chiang Mai International Airport, Thailand after its first flight touched down to a traditional water cannon salute.

The newly-launched seasonal service to Thailand’s second biggest city will operate a four times-weekly schedule from Doha, with a flight time of just over six hours.

Guests on board the inaugural flight included the Qatari Minister of Transport and Communications, HE Mr. Jassim bin Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti, Qatar Airways CEO, HE Mr. Akbar Al Baker and the Thai Ambassador to Qatar, HE Mr. Soonthorn Chaiyindeepum.

Qatar Airways will operate the new service with an Airbus A330-200 featuring 24 seats in Business Class and 236 seats in Economy Class. Passengers on the service will enjoy the airline’s superior entertainment system, offering up to 4,000 entertainment options.

The seasonal service will operate from 12 December until May 2018, and will resume once again for the Winter 2018 season in October 2018.

With the choice of four flights a week, passengers travelling from Chiang Mai are now connected seamlessly to more than 150 destinations, via the airline's state-of-the-art hub in Doha.

Next year Qatar Airways plans to add a fifth Thai destination to its network when it expands its services to include Pattaya, starting January 28, 2018.

Qatar Airways is one of the fastest-growing airlines with one of the youngest fleets in the world. Now in its 20th year of operations, it has over 200 aircraft flying to destinations on 6 continents.