QRCargo adds Toronto to their Canadian offering

July 5, 2020July 5, 2020 sofcookies

QRCargo continues to push into the continent of North America and continues to develop Canada. This time with services to Toronto on their A350-900 aircraft. Over the last three months the airline has worked closely with the Canadian government to bring 16,000 Canadians from the Middle East and Asia.

From a cargo perspective this is excellent news for Europe and the UK in particular. With Canada and the UK not aligned with an airbridge using Doha as a transhipment point makes sense. As this flight will carry passengers it give the airline an option on rating. Air Canada did issue a general tariff in May which freight forwarders have used. The tariff is much higher than UK exporters are used to paying and competition in the shape of Qatar airways is welcome.

QRCargo and Covid19

Unlike other airlines Qatar Airways maintained a network throughout the crisis. This network allowed QRCargo never to fall beneath 30 destinations. Other aircraft within the fleet continued to fly charter flights. Some of those charter flights were into Canada and the USA with repatriation flights from embassies around the world. Qatar Airways and QRCargo never stopped flying to Canada during the crisis. It now seems an extremely good fit to continue this close relationship.

New Canada schedule for Qatar Airways

With the addition of scheduled flights to Toronto, Qatar Airways will operate seven passenger aircraft per week to Canada

3 x weekly flights to Toronto ( Airbus A350-900 )
4 x weekly flights to Montreal ( Airbus A350-900 & B777 )

All aircraft with cargo carrying capacity. With the Airbus 350-900 fitted out to carry 36 in Business class and 247 in economy passengers are the key to success for cargo. Qatar have taken a number of steps to ensure passengers feel safe and secure. From booking through to flying. PPE for cabin crew and a PPE kit for passengers should help.

It will be interesting to see how these new passenger flights affect rates into and out of Canada. With cargo requirements continuing to outstrip capacity this is a welcome addition on the route. I am sure Air Canada will be watching with a keen interest as they try to maintain their UK outbound rating structure.