Qatar Airways cargo announces new freighter routes

Monday, 17 March 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Adds dedicated freighter services to Hyderabad and London Stansted
Resumes freighter service to Zaragoza

Qatar Airways Cargo has announced it will begin scheduled dedicated freighter services to two new destinations: Hyderabad (India) and London Stansted (UK), and that it will re-start services to Zaragoza (Spain). “Our goal is to be a world-class air cargo service provider and in order to achieve that goal, we need to constantly increase frequencies and expand our number of destinations, so that our customers can benefit from our global reach,” said Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo Ulrich Ogiermann.

“The addition of these new freighter routes clearly represent yet another milestone in Qatar Airways’ growth strategy,” continued Ogiermann. “And on top of this, we will take delivery of three new freighter aircraft in the course of 2014: two B777F and one A330-F.” Hyderabad will be the first new destination to be added to the Qatar Airways Cargo network, with the start on 1 April of a twice weekly service, using the A330 freighter. Main exports from Hyderabad will include IT products and pharmaceuticals. Qatar Airways already operates a daily passenger flight between Doha and Hyderabad. And effective 2 May, Qatar Airways Cargo will begin five weekly Boeing 777 freighter flights to London Stansted. Renowned for its operational capacity and infrastructure quality, Stansted is one of the largest freight hubs in the UK and home to an international cargo operation that transports more than 200,000 tonnes of goods annually to destinations worldwide. Qatar Airways Cargo is also resuming services to Zaragoza. The scheduled twice-weekly Airbus A330 freighter service will commence on 1 March. Textiles, agricultural products, footwear, automobile and pharmaceuticals are the major commodities expected to ship from Zaragoza. In addition to the new routes, Qatar Airways Cargo recently strengthened its product portfolio with the launch in January 2014 of two new premium services that optimise the transportation of time and temperature-sensitive goods, including high-value pharmaceutical products and perishables. The new services, QR Pharma and QR Fresh, add to the company’s substantial range of cargo services and further enhance its capacity and flexibility to effectively move sensitive commodities in line with the highest world-class standards. On 1 December 2013, the first Qatar Airways Cargo shipment was received at the new cargo facility at Hamad International Airport. The enormous, state-of-the-art facility, spanning more than 77,000 square metres, contains a perishables storage area, amongst other key facilities, such as a live animal centre and dangerous goods area. The new self-contained terminal will handle 1.4 million tons of cargo per annum. Qatar Airways Cargo serves more than 40 exclusive freighter destinations worldwide via its Doha hub and also delivers freight to more than 130 key business and leisure destinations globally on more than 129 aircraft. The Qatar Airways Cargo fleet currently includes three Airbus A330F and five Boeing 777 Freighters. At the recent Dubai Airshow 2013, Qatar Airways placed a firm order for five new Airbus A330-200 Freighter aircraft. Also included in the order were eight additional A330-200F options, for a total of 13 aircraft.