Qatar Airways comments on benefit of wildlife declaration

Qatar Airways was one of the 40 signatories to the United for Wildlife declaration who met on March 16 at Buckingham Palace in the presence of the Duke of Cambridge and Lord Hague to add its weight to the other carriers and cargo industry players who agree on the need to stamp out the shipment of illegal animal products.
Qatar Airways chief officer cargo Ulrich Ogiermann signed on behalf of the Doha-based airline, one of the world’s biggest cargo carriers, but his enthusiasm is shared by Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al Baker, who said: “We are extremely proud to be part of this initiative which recognises the need to protect endangered species from illegal trade and transportation.
“It is important that we work together as an industry to prevent violations of the regulations that have been put in place to safeguard these animals and to adopt a zero tolerance policy regarding illegal wildlife trade.
“As one of the world’s leading airlines, serving customers across six continents, we acknowledge our responsibility to society, to the community and to the environment; therefore we have a strict policy governing the types of animals and animal products that are banned for carriage on board Qatar Airways.”
The declaration, which is supported by IATA, Airports Council International (ACI) and a number of other carriers (IAG, Etihad Airways and Emirates Airline amongst them), commits the participating airlines to a wide range of measures designed to prevent the movement of illegal animal products, especially out of Africa.
According to a statement from Qatar Airways: “As an inaugural signature to the United for Wildlife Transport Industry Declaration, Qatar Airways acknowledges the scale and complexity of the challenge of illegal wildlife transportation and hopes its leadership encourages other airlines to work together to conserve the world’s natural heritage for generations to come.”
Qatar Airways Cargo also adheres to industry recommendations and best-practice for the transportation of live animals through its state-of-the-art hub in Doha, the carrier observes.
Today, it offers transport and provides dedicated handling facilities for horses, domestic pets, livestock, tropical fish and small mammals.