The service will start tomorrow (Thursday 2 February), operating 4 times a week and adding 70 tonnes of cargo capacity a week, which will feed into the airline’s network via its hub in Doha.
It complements existing bellyhold services to Kuala Lumpur, providing customers with over 200 tonnes of cargo capacity from Malaysia.
Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo of Qatar Airways Cargo, says the network planning team saw a perfect opportunity in the A330 flight’s ground-time in Phuket to establish an interim passenger-freighter connection to and from Penang.
He says, “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.”
He adds, “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 destination is open for all commodities except mail and capacity can be booked online on all channels including Qatar Airways Cargo’s Digital Lounge.