Doha: Qatar Airways Cargo continues to support global trade and facilitate supply chains across the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The cargo carrier has boosted its capacity to Scandinavian countries to meet the high demand for exports. The airline has introduced additional flights to and from Scandinavian cities Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, offering freight capacity for local exports amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Five additional Airbus A350 freight only passenger aircraft have been introduced each week to the carrier’s existing thrice-weekly belly-hold passenger flights in Copenhagen, Denmark, bringing the total weekly cargo capacity to more than 500 tonnes each way, said the airline in a statement posted on its website.
With approximately 140 cubic metres volumetric weight on every A350 flight, the cargo carrier is helping exporters in Denmark to ship their cargo to Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Seoul, Johannesburg and other destinations on its global network. Temperature sensitive cargo such as insulin and perishables as well as mail and general cargo are the main exports on these flights.
“Solidarity and support are paramount during such times and we are proud to support the Scandinavian countries with additional cargo capacity to meet the high demand for exports. The entire team at Qatar Airways Cargo is working hard in ensuring continuity of global trade,” said Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo.
In Oslo, Norway, the airline has introduced two additional frequencies of Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 freighters to its existing six weekly freighter flights and three freight only passenger flights. Recently, the carrier announced it will operate its Boeing 747-8F every Thursday in May, supporting the demand for imports and exports.
The airline also operated one Boeing 777 freighter from Stockholm, Sweden last week, with 103 tonnes of freight consisting of automotive cargo, general cargo and pharmaceuticals destined to China, Australia, Japan and other countries within the Qatar Airways network.
On Sunday, the cargo carrier announced to introduce an air bridge between Vietnam and France. Through this arrangement, eleven Boeing 777 freighters will operate from Hanoi in the month of May and four weekly freight-only Boeing 777 passenger aircraft will operate from Ho Chi Minh City until June for its customer, Bollore Logistics.
In April, Qatar Airways Cargo had introduced freighter flights to Australia that brought the combined weekly capacity in and out of Australia to more than 550 tonnes.
With global air freight capacity declining, Qatar Airways Cargo has increased operations to ensure the continuity of global trade and movement of essential medical and aid supplies. The airline continues to operate a significant cargo schedule with almost 175 flights per day.
It has worked closely with governments and NGOs to transport over 100,000 tonnes of medical and aid supplies to impacted regions around the world on both scheduled and charter services. To continue to fulfil demand the Group’s cargo division is also utilising passenger aircraft to carry freight-only to destinations in China, Europe, India and the Middle East.
