Qatar Airways Cargo inaugurated a Boeing 777 freighter connection with Miami International Airport (MIA) from its Doha hub on February 2, the route also taking in South American stops at Sao Paulo in Brazil, Buenos Aires in Argentina and Quito in Ecuador, as well as in Luxembourg.
The inaugural was celebrated with a traditional water salute at Miami’s cargo terminal.
The twice-weekly freighter service leaves Doha for the carrier’s European freight hub in Luxembourg before crossing the Atlantic for the three stops in South America and then flying on to its final destination in Florida.
On the return trip, the freighter stops at Liege, Belgium, before arriving back in Doha.
Ulrich Ogiermann, Qatar Airways chief officer cargo, remarked: “Our recent launch of a freighter service to these new destinations across the Americas is another successful start-up for Qatar Airways Cargo and we are grateful to the local authorities and customers for their immense support.
“We strive to connect these burgeoning import and export markets in the Americas with the rest of the world. Miami, in particular, is an important distribution hub for our air freight moving to and from the Latin American and Caribbean regions, given that Florida is an exporting powerhouse equipped with robust trade and supply chain infrastructure,” he observed.
Miami-Dade County mayor Carlos Gimenez added: “Our community already benefits from the daily world-class passenger service Qatar Airways provides to Doha and we look forward to the additional impact its cargo service will have on our local economy.”
The addition of these new stops on the Qatar Airways Cargo network brings to 12 the number of cities the carrier serves in the Americas with freighter services.
The additional 200 tonnes of weekly cargo capacity now offered also supplements the bellyhold cargo capacity available on Qatar Airways’ daily passenger flights to Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Miami.
Major commodities flown out of Sao Paulo, Bueno Aires and Quito typically include fresh flowers, perishables and pharmaceuticals, whilst imports into South America include a wide variety of products ranging from medicines, automotive and chemical products to high-tech commodities and equipment for the oil and gas industry.
The carrier views the new route as being of particular value to exporters of perishables and pharmaceuticals.
The cargo carrier only recently added Sao Paulo as the 71st destination on its QR Pharma network.
