Qatar Airways Cargo has increased services around the world, operating freighters and freight-only passenger aircraft to ensure the continuity of global trade and transportation of essential supplies to where they are needed during this critical time.
In the past month, the airline has transported over 50,000,000kg of medical and aid supplies to impacted regions around the globe. This equates to roughly 500 fully loaded Boeing 777 freighters.
Qatar Airways Group CEO, HE Akbar Al Baker, said: “Now, more than ever it is important to support global trade that ensures the supply of essential goods and vital aid worldwide. I am thankful to the airport authorities, ground handlers, cargo agents and governments around the world who have helped us increase our services to fulfill the demand for time sensitive freight.
“I also want to thank many of our long standing commercial customers that have supported us to prioritise humanitarian relief shipments to badly effected regions over their existing commercial arrangements. We are all in this together and are glad to be of service to communities around the world during this difficult time.”
Additional capacity has been introduced to cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Paris, Amsterdam, Muscat, Kuwait, Delhi, Beijing and Melbourne. We also continue to work closely with governments across the globe to operate freighter charters to support State efforts to bring in humanitarian aid and essential supplies.
To ensure the safety of our crew and cargo, we have implemented special procedures for ground handling to ensure minimum contact between staff and adherence to social distancing guidelines are met. All of our freighters and passenger aircraft are equipped with face masks, gloves and hand sanitisers for our crew and all the crew and staff are screened regularly.
As an airline, Qatar Airways maintains the highest possible hygiene standards, which include the regular disinfection of aircraft, the use of cleaning products recommended by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and robust staff training.
