Qatar Airways Cargo's revenue down 25%, cargo carried up 11%

Qatar Airways Cargo carried 3,043k tonne cargo from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 compared to 2,694k tonne the previous year and recorded QAR15,265 million ($4,186 million) revenue compared to QAR20,581 million ($5,644 million) the previous year.

While cargo carried increased 11 percent, revenue from cargo decreased 25 percent from the previous financial year.

The cargo carrier also announced that it had a 7.1 per cent market share, up by 0.04 per cent compared to the previous financial year.

Meanwhile, the Group reported the strongest financial performance in its 27-year history, with a total revenue of QAR81 billion (US$22.2 billion) and annual profits 39 per cent higher than the previous year.

The cargo carrier currently operates to more than 170 belly-hold and over 70 freighter destinations, utilising more than 200 passenger aircraft and its 28 Boeing 777 freighters.

It has a firm order for 34 Boeing 777-8 (and options for 16 more), to augment its streamlined fleet of Boeing 777 freighters.

“Qatar Airways Cargo has maintained its position as the world’s leading air freight carrier in 2023/24, bringing great enhancements to its services and sharply accelerating its digital transformation by retiring its last Boeing 747 aircraft and transitioning to an all Boeing 777F fleet,” the annual report reads.

In fact, the cargo carrier also returned its two Boeing 747s during the 2023/24 fiscal year.

Qatar Airways Cargo saw a change at the helm of its leadership during the 2023/24 financial year with Mark Drusch joining as Chief Officer Cargo in January 2024.

Qatar Airways Cargo launched new freighter services, including Algiers, Algeria; Bogota, Colombia, to Dallas Fort Worth; US; Dammam, Saudi Arabia; Miami, US; Sharjah, UAE; and Warsaw, Poland, during 2023/24.

Utilising its bespoke charter solution, the cargo carrier operated more than 1,400 charter shipments to several destinations, including those that are not part of its scheduled services. Among these were important charters for Formula 1®, MotoGP™ and the Longines Global Championship Tour, as well as humanitarian shipments to support global communities.

A partnership was launched with Xiamen Airlines, the first Chinese airline to operate passenger non-stop flights from mainland China to Qatar, allowing Cargo to provide additional belly cargo capacity for customers on these routes.

The cargo carrier also signed a partnership agreement with Dronamics, a leading-edge technology cargo drone airline.

Watch Mark Drusch, Chief Officer Cargo, Qatar Airways speaking during the recent air cargo China 2024.