Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker has confirmed that it had requested the Indian government to provide more traffic routes and seats to serve two-tier cities in the country.

On Wednesday, Mr. Al-Baker said that the airline required more traffic routes and seats as it had already exhausted all the allotted capacity.

Mr. Al-Baker was speaking on the sidelines of a global education program, called "Educate a child", which was sponsored by Qatar Airways and New York-based Jazz Lincoln Center.

He expressed hope that India's Civil Aviation authorities would provide the Gulf carrier with additional traffic routes and seats as well as permission to operate more flights out of India.

Speaking on the topic, he said, "We would love to serve more Indians in their travel needs. I am willing to take any number of seats offered to Qatar Airways. Sky is the limit."

Mr. Al-Baker pointed out that India has the highest number of well off and educated middle class people, who provide a big potential for overseas travel growth.

Nearly 160 million Indians travel by air (both domestic and international) every year; and the number is expected to nearly triple to 450 million by the year 2020.