Qatar Airways is looking forward to expand its operations and add more freighters as it considers its options for future orders of all-cargo aircraft.
Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum hosted by Bloomberg, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said that for the last two years, excluding FedEx and UPS, the airline had been the largest freight carrier in the world and growth had accelerated during the pandemic.
Al Baker said the carrier would like to order more freighters but there is a wait for slots at Boeing. He said that the airline would also like to be the launch customer for either the proposed B777X freighter or the A350 freighter.
“We are really hungry for more freighters,” Al Baker said. “Unfortunately David [David Calhoun, president and chief executive of The Boeing Company] cannot produce for us more B777F, the earliest he can give me is in 2023.”
He added, “We are very keen to be a launch customer, be it for the A350F or the B777X freighters. At Qatar Airways, we will concentrate on airfreight as an important part of our total strategy, of course, but first we are an airline to carry passengers.”
