Qatar Airways Cargo flies pax aircraft as cargo-only flights to Kuwait, Muscat

April 02, 2020: Qatar Airways Cargo doubled its air freight capacity to Kuwait and Muscat with the utilisation of passenger aircraft carrying freight-only from April 1, 2020. The provision of freight capacity will support the countries' trade in fresh produce (meat, fruit, and vegetables), general cargo, and pharmaceuticals.

The addition of these daily belly-hold services will provide 250 additional tonnes of cargo capacity to both Kuwait and Muscat. The belly-hold cargo flights will be operated on a turnaround basis without any cabin crew members or passengers on-board.

Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al Baker said, “The reduction in passenger operations globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic has also resulted in a decline in air freight capacity to support the movement of essential supplies including pharmaceutical and fresh produce. We are pleased to provide trade connectivity to Kuwait and Muscat by utilising our A350 passenger aircraft to transport cargo in and out of these destinations via our state-of-the-art cargo facilities at Hamad International Airport.”

Meanwhile, the carrier added an additional air freight capacity to and from India with the utilisation of passenger aircraft carrying freight-only from April 1, 2020. The airline operates B777-300ER to Delhi (3 weekly flights), Hyderabad (2 weekly flights), Bengaluru (3 weekly flights), Chennai (4 weekly flights), Mumbai (5 weekly flights), and B787-8 to Kolkata (2 weekly flights). The addition of these 19-weekly belly-hold services will see the airline’s weekly cargo capacity to India grow from 2,120 to 2,535 tonnes.