Qatar Airways Cargo has announced a significant new order for five Boeing 777F at the Paris Air Show yesterday.
Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, also revealed three new freighter routes; Hanoi to Dallas, Chicago to Singapore and Singapore – Los Angeles – Mexico City.
The five new Boeing 777F will propel the airline’s growth and give a huge boost to its capacity, enabling it to add new freighter routes while also increasing capacity on key trade lanes.
The three new transpacific freighter routes are in addition to the existing and immensely successful Macau – Los Angeles service launched six months ago.
Al Baker said: “I am pleased that Qatar Airways has today signed this landmark order for five new Boeing 777 freighters to add to our cargo fleet. It will increase our Boeing 777 freighter fleet by a full 20 per cent, enabling us to further develop our business and offer new customers the chance to experience a truly first-class logistics service.
“This is an order that will propel our growth and, I firmly believe, confirm us as the leading cargo operator in the world.”
Qatar Airways chief officer cargo, Guillaume Halleux, added: “We are very excited about these announcements. The addition of the five Boeing 777 freighters will be beneficial for our customers’ business as we can offer them greater capacity and increased frequencies on high demand routes.
“The three new routes add to our expanding global network operated by one of the youngest and most modern fleets in the industry. Echoing the words of His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, ‘we are a customer-centric business obsessed with perfection’.
The 777F’s economics makes it an attractive addition to the airline’s fleet and will operate on long-haul routes to the Americas, Europe, the Far East, Asia and some destinations in Africa.
The carrier’s cargo volumes increased by 10 per cent in 2018 over 2017 and its products have also performed exceptionally well with positive tonnage growth and several enhancements introduced.
The carrier added belly-hold cargo capacity to several key destinations in its network and also received two brand new 777Fs in 2018. It introduced freighters to two new destinations in May 2019; Guadalajara in Mexico and Almaty in Kazakhstan.
