Qatar Airways Cargo adds Malaysia capacity via a preighter

Qatar Airways Cargo said it will bring cargo capacity back to Penang, Malaysia from February 2 by operating an Airbus A330 passenger freighter to Penang via Qatar Airways’ passenger flights to Phuket, Thailand four times a week.

This adds more than 70 tonnes of available capacity each week, that will feed into Qatar Airways Cargo’s international network via its Doha hub.

The service complements the existing seven weekly bellyhold flights to Kuala Lumpur, providing customers with over 200 tonnes of cargo capacity from Malaysia.

Qatar Airways Cargo chief officer cargo Guillaume Halleux said: “Qatar Airways Cargo is implementing its meticulous Next Generation approach throughout its network, aiming for optimum resource deployment in alignment with customer requirements.

“Our network planning team saw a perfect opportunity in the passenger A330 flight’s ground-time in Phuket, and have worked hard to establish a well-scheduled, interim passenger-freighter connection to Penang and back to maximise the cargo capacity into and out of Malaysia’s second-busiest cargo airport.

“This Next Generation-style multi-modal strategy sees Qatar Airways’ Doha-Phuket passenger connection becoming a Phuket-Penang-Phuket passenger-freighter for four days of the week, before returning to Doha again as a passenger service with lower deck cargo.”

“The re-launch of our Penang connections in an innovative and unique manner illustrates our ambition and ability, at Qatar Airways Cargo, to provide connectivity to our customers in the best possible way.

With the exception of mail, the destination is open for all commodity types. Penang is the largest export contributing state within Malaysia, with mostly electronics/electrical equipment, general cargo and vulnerable cargo being sent by air.

IATA World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) data for 2021 show Qatar Airways is the second global cargo airline in scheduled cargo tonne km (CTK) terms.

At the beginning of 2022, Qatar Airways became the launch customer for the new Boeing B777-8 freighter, ordering 34 of the aircraft with options for a further 16.

The carrier also took delivery of three new B777 freighters at the start of 2021.