Qatar Airways Cargo, the world’s third largest international cargo carrier, recently celebrated its 10 years of services in Kenya.

A gala reception was held to commemorate this milestone achievement earlier this month, and was attended by the cargo carrier’s customers and business partners, including Ibrahim Mohamed Al-Abdulla, Qatar's ambassador to Kenya, and Yatich Kangugo, acting managing director of Kenya Airport, said a statement from the company.

Qatar Airways Cargo commenced services to Nairobi in 2006 with two Airbus A300 freighters. Today, Qatar Airways Cargo operates seven Airbus A330 freighters and transports belly-hold cargo on 21 passenger aircraft to Nairobi each week, offering a total capacity of 232 tonnes into Nairobi and 362 tonnes out of Nairobi each week, it said.

Over the past decade, Qatar Airways Cargo has established itself as a trusted air freight service provider in Kenya, connecting the city of Nairobi to a global network of more than 150 destinations on its young and modern fleet. The cargo carrier is constantly innovating and introducing effective air transport solutions to meet its customer and market needs in the East Africa region, it added.

The company has seen remarkable expansion to its operations in the African continent. Today, the cargo carrier operates freighters to seven destinations (Accra, Djibouti, Entebbe, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Lagos and Nairobi) and provides belly-hold cargo capacity to 23 cities in the world’s second largest continent. Perishables such as flowers, fruits, vegetables and meat remain the top exports from Nairobi, destined mainly for Europe and Middle Eastern countries, said the statement.

Kenya is among the top three largest flower exporters in the world and the highest exporter of flowers in Africa. Qatar Airways Cargo’s QR Fresh solution provides a seamless cool chain service for perishables from the origin airport through to the final destination via its fully-automated hub in Doha. The use of refrigerated trucks at the carrier’s cargo terminal in Doha ensures the cool chain is unbroken, it stated.

Ulrich Ogiermann, Qatar Airways chief officer cargo said: “We are proud to have completed 10 successful years of freighter operations to and from Nairobi. Kenya is an important market for us, and we are a great partner with the businesses that need high quality, reliable cargo services.”

“We anticipate continuous growth as we begin our second decade of freighter operations into the country. We owe our success to our customers, business partners and local stakeholders for their tremendous support over the years,” he said. – TradeArabia News Service