Qatar Airways Cargo to Open New Transit Facility; Launch Weekly Flights to London Heathrow

Qatar Airways Cargo has unveiled plans to open a transit facility for temperature-controlled shipments as well as weekly freighter flights to London Heathrow.

The new Climate Control Centre, a 2,470 square metre airside transit facility for temperature-sensitive cargo, will feature two zones operating for 2°- 8°C or 15°- 25°C with capacity to hold a total of 156 ULDs (unit load devices) at a time.

Segregated sections within the facility enable storage of pharmaceutical products in compliance with ‘good distribution practice’ (GDP) regulations.

To ensure complete temperature integrity, the facility will be equipped with six truck docks, each with inflated curtains and an ante-room as a staging area.

Qatar Airways Cargo just this week added a fourth, weekly Basel-Doha, Pharma Express flight served by Airbus A330F and will launch of weekly A330F flights to London Heathrow on 3 June 2017. The carrier has operated freighters to London’s Stansted Airport since May 2014.

The carrier will add four Boeing 777F between September 2017 and March 2019, bringing its total fleet count to 25.

The new passenger destinations, which are set to launch soon in 2017, will also contribute over 200 tonnes of weekly belly-hold capacity to its network.

Qatar Airways Cargo started 2017 by adding five new freighter destinations: Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Quito, Miami and Phnom Penh, while increasing frequencies to Brussels, Basel and Hong Kong in response to the growing air freight demand in these regions.

The cargo carrier has seen a 21% increase in tonnage from 2015 to 2016, due to the air cargo industry remaining competitive despite an underperforming economy.

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