Qatar Airways Cargo (Qatar Cargo) has commenced direct freighter service to Yangon, Myanmar. The Doha-Yangon-Doha route is served once-a-week with the Airbus A330 freighter, providing more than 60 tonnes of cargo capacity each way.

Qatar Airways’ Acting Chief Officer Cargo, Mr. Guillaume Halleux, said: “We are delighted to launch our eighth freighter destination for 2017, in line with our strategic expansion to our network and fleet. Since the country’s liberalisation, Myanmar has had the fastest-growing economy in the ASEAN region, and foreign investment in local trade has seen tremendous growth. We are extremely proud to be the first international airline to serve this emerging market with scheduled freighter service as we aspire to become the premier air cargo service provider in the region.”    

Myanmar’s air freight exports and imports have risen tremendously by 87 per cent and 58 per cent in metric tonnes since 2014. Qatar Airways Cargo currently offers belly capacity on the airline’s daily passenger flights to Yangon. The addition of dedicated freighter service will provide additional capacity to support Myanmar’s thriving garment exports, as well as other major commodities, including fresh produce and food products. Ready-made garments are the chief exports destined mainly for Europe and the United States via a seamless stopover at the cargo carrier’s state-of-the-art Doha hub. The new service will also facilitate the transit of pharmaceutical imports from Europe to Myanmar through its established QR Pharma solution.

Asia Pacific is a prime air cargo market for Qatar Airways Cargo, and with the launch of new freighter service to Yangon, the cargo carrier has grown its network in the region to eight destinations. Qatar Airways Cargo also offers significant belly capacity to 29 cities in the region, providing a combined weekly capacity of more than 8,000 tonnes out of Asia Pacific. The cargo carrier recently launched freighter service to Pittsburgh, becoming the first international airline to provide dedicated freighter service to the city.