KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 29): Qatar Airways, a Qatari government-owned full service carrier, will be adding on eight more new routes, increasing its new destinations to 15 from just seven planned previously, for the year 2017 and 2018.

In a statement today, Qatar Airways said the eight new destinations are Canberra, Australia; Dublin, Ireland; Las Vegas, the US; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; Medan, Indonesia; Tabuk and Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

Previously, the group revealed that it will start flying to Auckland, New Zealand, by Feb 5, 2017, which will be the world's longest commercial flight.

The 15 new destinations expand Qatar Airways current network of more than 150 routes across six continents globally.

Apart from that, Qatar Airways will also fly to Sarajevo, Bosnia; Skopje, Macedonia; Libreville, Gabon; Nice, France; Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Douala, Cameroon.

"With today's network announcement, we will be able to connect more people to more places than any other Gulf airline, and we will ensure our passengers will delight in the journey. At Qatar Airways, we are going places together with our passengers, and we look forward in welcoming these new destinations in 2017–18," the group's chief executive Akbar Al Baker said.

Year to date, Qatar Airways opened 12 new destinations in 2016 and is adding two more cities into its network, namely Krabi, Thailand, by Dec 6, 2016, and Seychelles by Dec 12 this year.

The new destinations added this year are Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles, the US; Birmingham, UK; Helsinki, Finland; Pisa, Italy; Yerevan, Armenia; Marrakech, Morocco; Ras Al Khaimah, UAE; Windhoek, Namibia; and Sydney and Adelaide, Australia.