Qatar Airways launches its first freighter at annual cargo conference

Qatar Airways' Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, announced the addition of the A300-600R at the company's annual cargo conference in Doha.

"This freighter is expected to generate significant business to the airline," said Mr. Al Baker. "The company is planning to buy two additional dedicated freighters within the coming couple of years."

At a cost of $10 million, the A300-600R passenger aircraft has been converted to a freighter at Elbe Flugzeugweke GmbH (EADS EFW) in Dresden, Germany. The freighter was delivered to Qatar Airways 20 days ahead of schedule.

"With the ability to offer a full payload of 42 tonnes, the freighter will become an integral part of Qatar Airways cargo strategy," said Al Baker. "We are expecting to achieve cargo growth rates in the coming year of around 35 per cent. Along with the new freighter, the new cargo terminal expansion will offer cargo capacity of 180,000 tonnes.

"The freighter will boost cargo capacity, enhance our relationship with shippers and forwarders and establish Doha as a regional cargo hub."

Building on a reputation of premium customer service, Qatar Airways has launched a growth plan to ensure that it can offer people a greater choice of destinations, flights and the latest in-flight products and service.

As part of this growth plan, Qatar Airways will extend its route network to 50 destinations by the end of 2003. It presently flies to 40 destinations. It has recently announced the addition of Manchester, Rome, Kochi and Basra to its increasing route network.

Qatar Airways is also increasing its fleet. It presently has 23 new Airbus aircraft, which will increase to 28 by the end of this year. Qatar Airways recently announced that it would take delivery of a long range A319 corporate jetliner. It is also one of the launch customers for the A380 'super jumbo' in 2007.

Qatar Airways also operates a number of subsidiary companies including: Qatar Aviation Service, Qatar Aviation Catering Company, Qatar Airways Holidays, Doha International Airport and Qatar Duty Free.