15 February 2013
Qatar Airways will host the 7th World Cargo Symposium, which is the world's largest meeting of air freight industry executives, airline officials and other stakeholders in Doha next month. The event that will be held from March 12 to 14 will focus on actions for sustainability and, in particular, the role of the Middle East in the burgeoning air cargo industry. Qatar Airways is the host airline of the conference, while its freight subsidiary Qatar Airways Cargo is the main sponsor.
Following the success of last year's symposium held in Kuala Lumpur, Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar al-Baker said he was delighted IATA decided to bring its annual conference to Doha for the 2013 meeting. "It is fitting that our industry colleagues from across the global cargo industry will be in Qatar, a country which will soon have a brand new multi-billion dollar airport showcasing the best facilities anywhere in the world," he said. "The Doha forum will be a great opportunity for debate, discussion and decisions. We look forward to providing delegates with a glimpse of the new Hamad International Airport, just weeks before it opens its doors to the first airline customers.
Cargo will play a pivotal role at the new airport as purpose-built cargo facilities will soon be ready for operations." Al-Baker said the conference takes place at a time when the global freighter industry faces new and increasing challenges in a highly demanding environment. He said, "Worldwide, the cargo industry is undergoing a revamp as operators reassess their current operations and look at new ways of reaching out to emerging markets. "The freighter industry is facing changing demands in the industrial and private sectors as we see an increase in activity and investment worldwide.
"Here in Doha for example, the demand for increased freighter services inbound has seen our own airline increase its capacity, as well as reaching out to new destinations as the demand for outbound cargo around the world also intensifies. "Just last year we added 10 destinations to our worldwide cargo network, including Amman, Budapest, Erbil and Karachi to serve ever increasing demand. "Increasingly, we need to look at how we prepare our employees and our stakeholders for these changing times, the impact of air freight on other sectors, our environmental footprint and the effect of our cargo operations on other global economies." The new cargo terminal at Hamad International Airport with state-of-the-art infrastructure will be able to facilitate 1.4mn tonnes of freight each year.
© Gulf Times 2013
