Qatar Airways has begun freighter services between Amsterdam and the Indian cities of Delhi and Chennai through its hub at Doha, using its newly converted A300-600 cargo freighter.
“These services will increase our cargo capacity by more than 750 tons or 5400 CBM per week,” said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar A- Baker. “We expect that most of the cargo that we will carry on these new services will include apparel, perishables, pharmaceuticals, machinery and heavy oil and gas equipment.”
As part of this growth plan, Qatar Airways will extend its route network to 50 destinations by the end of 2003, and 60 by the end of 2004. It has recently added Manchester, Rome and Moscow to its route network. It will soon begin flights to Shanghai, Seoul and Tripoli.
Qatar Airways has recently signed a $5.1 billion agreement to purchase 32 more additional Airbus aircraft in a deal that will increase the fleet to 52 by 2008. The airline is also one of the launch customers for the A380 'super jumbo' in 2007, when it will take delivery of two of the aircraft. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
