Qatar Airways Cargo announced that it has set a record year for salmon shipments out of Norway.

The cargo carrier said it transported more than 46,000 tonnes of Norwegian seafood in 2021 which it said is “the highest result yet” for the airline, according to Rob Veltman,  vice president of cargo Europe at Qatar Airways.

The airline transports more than 125 tonnes of seafood from Oslo every single day.

“With seven Qatar Airways passenger flights and six Boeing 777 freighter services each week, the Oslo-Doha route is well served, and the airline’s cargo capacity well stocked,” Qatar said, noting that 95% of all perishable seafood (PES) on board Qatar Airways flights out of Scandinavia, is salmon. 

It noted that Iceland and Faroe Island (Denmark) also see some seafood traffic which includes live king crabs, trout, and other seafood, however, the bulk of the salmon business originates in Norway  — by far the world’s number one salmon exporter.

Last year, Normal saw 1.3 million tonnes of salmon exported in 2021 (the country’s best year to date), and a segment value of EUR 8.57 billion/US$9.28 billion, according to Qatar Airways.

“Salmon is a particularly delicate cargo commodity as it requires skilled, hygienic handling in temperature-controlled conditions and, above all, reliable, fast connections to its final destination. Qatar Airways Cargo not only offers a global network of over 150 stations, but we also reacted quickly to support Norwegian seafood exporters when the pandemic led to a dramatic decrease in available belly capacity,” Veltman said.

Increased capacity to support salmon export

The Qatar Cargo executive noted that the airline introduced passenger freighters to the Norwegian seafood market, including Harstad-Narvik Airport in Evenes and Bodø Airport in Northern Norway, significantly increasing its capacity for the Norwegian market in 2021. 

“Our Operations team went above and beyond to meet the needs of our customers, resulting in record-breaking uplift of more than 68,944 kg on a single lower deck 777 passenger flight. Qatar Airways Cargo transported more than 46,000 tonnes of Norwegian seafood in 2021, the highest result yet. The airline transports more than 125 tonnes of seafood from Oslo every single day,” he added.

Qatar Airways Cargo offers close to 850 tonnes of cargo capacity each week from Norway, transporting Norwegian salmon via Doha’s state-of-the-art perishable centre, to destinations across Asia: Seoul/South Korea (ICN), Bangkok/Thailand (BKK), Shanghai/China (PVG), Osaka/Japan (KIX), Narita/Japan (NRT), Hong Kong (HKG), Guangzhou/China (CAN,); and the Middle East: Dubai/UAE (DXB), Doha/Qatar (DOH), and Riyadh/Saudi Arabia (RUH).