Qatar Airways Cargo has reported a record year for salmon shipments from Norway in 2021, with salmon making up 95 percent of all perishable seafood carried onboard the company’s flights from Scandinavia.
With 1.3 million tonnes of salmon at a value of €8.57 billion ($9.28 billion), Norway is the world’s number one salmon exporter.
“Salmon is a particularly delicate cargo commodity as it requires skilled, hygienic handling in temperature-controlled conditions and, above all, reliable, fast connections to its final destination,” Qatar Airways Cargo said in a statement reported by Aviation24.
The company highlighted how it “reacted quickly to support Norwegian seafood exporters when the pandemic led to a dramatic decrease in available belly capacity.”
“By introducing passenger freighters to the Norwegian seafood market, including Harstad-Narvik Airport in Evenes and Bodø Airport in Northern Norway, Qatar Airways Cargo significantly increased its capacity to the Norwegian market in 2021 when it was needed the most,” Rob Veltman, the Vice President Cargo Europe at Qatar Airways, said.
“Qatar Airways Cargo transported more than 46,000 tonnes of Norwegian seafood in 2021, the highest result yet. The airline transports more than 125 tonnes of seafood from Oslo every single day,” Veltman added.
Qatar Airways Cargo offers close to 850 tonnes of cargo capacity each week from Norway, transporting Norwegian salmon via Doha to destinations across Asia and the Middle East.
