Qatar Airways has acquired the Novotel Edinburgh Park Hotel in Scotland.

The hotel will continue to be managed and operated under the Novotel brand by Accor which operates more than 3,700 quality hotels worldwide, the company said in a statement today.

that Novotel Edinburgh Park marks the second hotel acquisition by Qatar Airways outside of Qatar, where it owns the five-star Oryx Rotana Hotel in Doha and runs the new airside Hamad International Airport Hotel. The first acquisition, earlier this year, was the Sheraton Skyline Hotel at Heathrow Airport in London, the statement added.

The hotel offers 170 high quality rooms and suites; five purpose-designed, fully equipped and flexible meeting rooms.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker, said: "The Novotel Edinburgh Park is an excellent addition to our travel portfolio, complementing our five-star hotel the Oryx Rotana in Doha and Sheraton Skyline Hotel Heathrow, making it easy for passengers who wish to spend some time in Edinburgh before travelling further afield in Scotland." Qatar Airways has won many awards for the quality of its service in the skies, including World’s Best Business Class at the latest Business Traveller Awards in 2014.

Qatar Airways, also announced that it became the first airline to operate the world’s newest aircraft (A350 XWB) to Singapore and the Asia Pacific region today, with the inaugural A350 XWB service arriving in Singapore Changi Airport.

Speaking at the welcome ceremony held at Changi Airport, Qatar Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer Marwan Koleilat said "The A350 XWB is the third and final major new aircraft in a decade and Qatar Airways is delighted to be the first global airline to fly this state-of-the-art aircraft into Singapore and Asia Pacific.

"Singapore is a key market for Qatar Airways and we remain committed to offering our Singapore-based passengers the best in-flight experience possible," he added.

The carrier currently operates a double-daily service to Singapore with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the aircraft will be progressively replaced by the next-generation A350 XWB.

In addition, from later this summer, Qatar Airways will add an additional daily flight to Singapore, as part of its global expansion drive and to cater to the increase in passenger demand. All three daily flights will be operated using the A350 XWB by mid-August.

Qatar Airways has experienced rapid growth in just 18 years of operation. Today it flies a modern fleet of 157 aircraft to 146 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.