Montreal air travelers will benefit from the aggressive global expansion of Qatar Airways this summer as the company enters the Canadian market with direct flights to and from Doha.

Passengers look out from the windows of a Qatar Airways plane. The new Montreal route flows out of an aviation agreement signed last October between Canada and Qatar that permits three passenger and three cargo flights per week into Canada. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker told reporters in Brussels that service will begin "soon."

Reports said the airline plans to offer three weekly round-trip flights on Boeing 777 aircraft starting in June.

Qatar, which began offering flights to Belgium on Monday, plans to reach 120 major destinations by 2013. It currently operates nearly 1,000 flights weekly to 98 destinations, with Houston, Washington and New York being its only North American stops.

The Montreal route flows out of an aviation agreement signed last October between Canada and Qatar that permits three passenger and three cargo flights per week into Canada.

Qatar Airways isn't yet taking bookings on direct flights from Canada, although connections to flights from the U.S. are provided through code-share partner Air Canada.

The additional flights come as the United Arab Emirates wages a public battle with Canada over its effort to increase its flights.

Ottawa's refusal to give more slots prompted the UAE to kick the Canadian military out of Camp Mirage, a key base in Dubai used to support the war in Afghanistan.

Unlike the UAE, Qatar does not require that Canadian citizens have travel visas.

Expansion had focused on Europe

Qatar Airways has focused much of its expansion on Europe, which represents one quarter of its global network.

Brussels is its 24th European destination and joins Bucharest and Budapest in being added in the past three weeks.

Since last March, six new routes have been added in Europe, with Stuttgart planned for next month.

Qatar Airways has increased the capacity and frequency of service by adding new routes to underserved cities and stepped in as other airlines have withdrawn capacity, Al Baker said.

He said the airline's rapid expansion has created "unease" among competitors, but insisted that it is meeting demand by offering customers greater choice and an alternative to legacy carriers.

"There should be an operating environment where competitors ought not be afraid of each other and not feel threatened."