DOHA, QATAR (October 27, 2015) – Qatar Airways Cargo has launched two specialized products: QR Equine and QR Express, and has also announced that it will be building a second cargo terminal at Hamad International Airport.

QR Equine will include a dedicated team of experts for the transportation of horses. Customers will be able to use the carrier’s Live Animal Facility, which offers air-conditioned horse stalls, a paddock, an on-site vet and grooms who will accompany the horses.

QR Express will address the growing e-commerce sector across the world, with a simplified booking system, high-priority boarding and unloading, and rapid handling.

Akbar Al Baker, group chief executive of Qatar Airways, also said that the airline would construct a second cargo terminal at its Doha hub, expected to open in 2018.

“This will take the total capacity to 4.4 million tonnes per annum when the second terminal is ready,” said Al Baker. “It will be an increase of up to 110,000m² and it will have a 3-million-tonne annual capacity.”

The new terminal will have a higher capacity because it will be a taller building, according to Al Baker. He also said that there were plans to boost the total capacity of the two terminals to 7 million tonnes.

In July 2015, Qatar Airways Cargo was the fourth-largest international air cargo carrier, according to freight-tonne-kilometre figures from the International Air Transport Association.

“Two years ago, I committed to driving QR Cargo to become the world’s fifth-largest cargo carrier,” said Al Baker. “The good news I have today is that I’m proud to announce that we have now surpassed that goal and based on the latest IATA international FTK rankings, we are now number three in the industry.”

Looking ahead, Al Baker said that the airline would continue to offer a more efficient service through improved technology and investment.

“Any airline which does not invest in cargo operations will continue to lose their market share,” he said. “In the next five years, in my opinion, at least one or two major players will bow out of the cargo industry.”

Qatar Airways Cargo operates a fleet of six Airbus A330-200 Freighters, one Boeing 747 Freighter and eight 777 Freighters, with another A330-200F arriving in December 2015.

By Jeffrey Lee

[The full version of this story will be published in the November issue of Asia Cargo News.]