Qatar launches first air cargo hub in Africa

Qatar launches first air cargo hub in Africa

Qatar Airways Cargo has launched its first cargo hub outside Qatar, in collaboration with Rwanda’s national airline RwandAir, in a bid to establish strong foundations ahead of an expansion into the African air cargo network and meet the 3-5% annual economic growth forecast for the continent over the next decade.

At 13:00 Central Africa Time on Wednesday, a Qatar Airways Cargo Boeing 777 freighter landed at Kigali International Airport, officially launching operations at the cargo division’s new Kigali Africa Hub.

The Boeing 777 will fly from Doha to Kigali, twice a week. Since March, Qatar Airways Cargo has created an intra-Africa service between Kigali and Lagos (three times per week), and a weekly service from Istanbul via Doha to Kigali, all operated by an Airbus A310 cargo aircraft.

Ahead of the Kigali Cargo Hub launch, QAS Cargo, a subsidiary of Qatar Airways, provided consultancy support to RwandAir Cargo to help advance its cargo handling performance, and improve efficiencies. A team from QAS Cargo visited the cargo handling facilities and presented RwandAir with a detailed action plan for operational improvements and handling performance. The teams say they are now working together on a future roadmap, including a proposed improvement plan for its warehouse infrastructure,