• by Tanya Gazdik , March 30, 2011

Qatar Airways is aiming for global awareness with an international ad campaign breaking April 1.

The campaign, which includes online, print and radio, will highlight the distinctive characteristics of each region within the airline's expanding worldwide network. Radio ads were completed in several languages.

The creative will deliver imagery and messages that highlight the airline's award-winning global five-star ranking from airline industry auditor Skytrax. Destinations within India, Europe, Australia, China, East Asia, South Asia, North America, South America, Africa and the Middle East are each featured separately.

The campaign follows the successful introduction of a similar concept that promoted the airline's new routes throughout 2010 and into 2011. The latest regional ads emphasize key messages and visual representations that are instantly recognizable as being connected to a specific region.

The airline is expanding rapidly in terms of destinations and aircraft. Qatar currently flies 96 aircraft to 99 diverse business and leisure destinations. By 2013, the carrier plans to serve more than 120 destinations worldwide with a fleet of over 120 aircraft.

It steps up its route expansion in June with new services to the Iranian city of Shiraz (June 5), Italian city of Venice (June 15), first move into Canada with Montreal (June 29), Indian city of Kolkata (July 27), Bulgarian capital Sofia (Sept. 14) and Norway's capital city of Oslo (Oct. 5).

Earlier this month, in anticipation of the airline's milestone 100th destination, (launching April to the historic Syrian city of Aleppo,) the carrier announced its biggest travel giveaway ever. Through April 16, travelers can sign up on www.QatarAirways.com/100 for a chance to win one of 100 pairs of economy class tickets. The carrier will announce another portion of this global promotion via QatarAirways. com on April 6.

To promote this contest, the Doha, Qatar-based carrier launched a specific YouTube channel as well as a Facebook page, which over the last few weeks since its inception in mid-March has garnered nearly 100,000 international "likes," according to the carrier.