Qatar Cargo has formed a partnership with Virgin Australia to expand its presence between the Middle East and Australia.
The partnership will see Qatar gain access to capacity on Virgin Australia’s daily flights from Doha to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
The flights operate using Virgin Australia’s Boeing 777 passenger aircraft and will expand Qatar’s capacity between Doha and Australia by more than 180 tonnes per week.
This figure breaks down into the following per week: 129 tonnes of cargo capacity each way between Doha and Perth, 30 tonnes each way for Brisbane and 21 tonnes each way for Sydney.
This is in addition to the 240 tonnes of bellyhold capacity Qatar offers on its own services to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
Target sectors for the services include perishables and pharmaceuticals.
From December, Virgin will also add daily flights to Melbourne in partnership with Qatar Airways.
Mark Drusch, chief officer cargo at Qatar Airways, said: “Australia plays a pivotal role in global trade, and it is essential for us to empower its exporters with the best possible connectivity.
”This partnership with Virgin Australia significantly increases capacity available to Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne — a major improvement in global cargo capacity for exporters.
“With these new services, we are responding decisively to long-standing market demands. The addition of Virgin Australia’s Boeing 777s more than doubles the airfreight capacity on key routes.”
Dimitris Politis, head of cargo at Virgin Australia, added: “This collaboration delivers significant new capacity for Australian exporters and strengthens our ability to connect Australian businesses with international markets.”
Qatar Cargo added that two-way trade between Qatar and Australia has surpassed A$3.4bn annually and Qatar ranks among Australia’s top trading partners in the Middle East and North Africa region.
