Qatar Airways Cargo has launched additional Pharma Express freighter flights from Basel and Brussels to Doha to serve the growing pharmaceutical industry.

An additional weekly frequency is now operated from Basel to Doha by an Airbus A330-200F on Fridays, and two more A330-200F flights from Brussels to Doha will be operated on Wednesdays and Saturdays, starting from February 15, 2017.

“Air cargo standards for handling time-and-temperature-sensitive commodities such as pharmaceuticals are becoming more stringent, especially with the stricter guidelines on temperature-control requirements,” said Ulrich Ogiermann, chief officer of cargo at Qatar Airways. “At Qatar Airways Cargo, we understand the intricacies involved in safeguarding the integrity of temperature-sensitive commodities during shipment. Therefore, we are committed to offering our customers seamless cool chain air logistics as well as uncompromised service standards compliant with Good Distribution Practice (GDP) requirements.  Our Pharma Express flights are launched to cater to the rapidly expanding pharmaceutical industry. We are extremely proud to be the only international air cargo carrier to offer dedicated Pharma Express flights to the world’s major pharmaceutical and healthcare industry hubs.”

The carrier launched Pharma Express flights in 2015. With these additional frequencies, Qatar Airways Cargo will operate nine Pharma Express flights from Ahmedabad, Brussels, Basel, Hyderabad and Mumbai to Doha every week with the A330-200F, which is capable of carrying 65 to 68 tonnes of cargo on each flight.