Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways, breaks down the key pillars supporting the State of Qatar’s logistics and supply chain industry…
The world’s top international air cargo airline, Qatar Airways Cargo, was established in 2003 and is headquartered in Doha, State of Qatar. With freighters, belly-hold passenger flights, passenger freighters, and micro freighters, it provides a global network of more than 70 freighter destinations and 150 passenger destinations. Two Boeing 747-8 freighters, two Boeing 747-400 freighters, 26 Boeing 777 freighters, and one Airbus 310 freighter make up the airline’s freighter fleet. Additionally, it features a vast network of road feeder services (RFS). With considerable investments in its products, services, quality handling, infrastructure, facilities, people, and procedures at each of its destinations, the cargo carrier provides high operating standards for cargo transportation.
“In line with its Next Generation strategy, Qatar Airways Cargo is prioritising digitalisation,” said Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer of Cargo at Qatar Airways. “With the recent launch of its cutting-edge and innovative Digital Lounge platform, which provides various improvements including booking, tracking, account management and reporting, the carrier offers enhanced cargo solutions to its customers.”
Additionally, Qatar Airways Cargo has won numerous awards; just recently, it won Cargo Airline of the Year and Air Cargo Industry Marketing & Promotional Campaign at the 2023 Air Cargo Week World Air Cargo Awards. The carrier also won the ‘Sustainable Cargo Airline of the Year’ at Freight Week Sustainability Awards 2023.
Differentiation
In the sector, Qatar Airways Cargo has constantly made investments in cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art facilities, and strict quality control procedures. Their committed team, in-depth knowledge, and everlasting commitment keep them ahead of their rivals.
Guillaume adds, “Qatar Airways Cargo is committed to exceptional customer service. We have dedicated teams to ensure customer needs are met promptly and efficiently. With our 24/7 customer support, we offer tailor-made solutions to meet our customers’ specific requirements.”
As a leader in cutting-edge technology, Qatar Airways Cargo is continuously investing in novel solutions to boost operational effectiveness, visibility, and security, streamline workflows, and boost performance.
“We excel in providing specialised solutions for various types of goods, including pharmaceuticals, perishables and dangerous goods. Our expertise and capabilities enable us to tailor our services to meet the unique challenges associated with these specific types of cargo,” shares Guillaume. They have the expertise, resources, and experience to provide dependable and effective services, whether ensuring the correct handling and temperature control for pharmaceutical products, preserving the freshness and integrity of perishable goods, or adhering to stringent safety protocols for dangerous goods.
“In addition, we are fully certified to ensure these goods’ safe and secure transportation. Having obtained IATA CEIV Fresh, CEIV Lithium Batteries and CEIV Pharma certifications demonstrates our sustained commitment to the highest standards when handling and transporting perishables, dangerous goods and pharmaceuticals,” says Guillaume.
Safety And Assurance
According to industry best practices and stringent standards, cargo handling changes depending on the type of goods being transported and its requirements. They offer a wide range of goods and services for different kinds of cargo, and each type of good has specific handling, storage, and transportation needs.
“We are the first airline globally to complete the suite of IATA Certifications for CEIV Fresh, CEIV Lithium Batteries, CEIV Live Animals, CEIV Pharma, IEnvA registered and United for Wildlife programme. These certifications showcase our commitment to maintaining the highest global industry standards,” confirms Guillaume.
Safety First remains their motto, and the team carries out all relevant risk assessments for high-risk dangerous goods shipments before they are accepted for carriage on Qatar Airways flights and freighters. “Our operations staff are trained to the requirements of our regulators and based on their job responsibilities to handle such goods,” shares Guillaume.
Digital Transformation
A key pillar of Qatar Airways Cargo’s Vision 2027 Strategy, digitalisation has received significant investment. The launch of Qatar Airways Cargo’s brand-new website in May 2022 marked the beginning of the airline’s digital transformation journey. The new website boasts an entirely new design that provides straightforward navigation, logical presentation of information, and strong security. The new website boasts a reduced carbon footprint than its predecessor because it is cloud-based and takes fewer clicks to source pertinent details.
In October 2022, Qatar Airways Cargo launched its next-generation Digital Experience platform with a completely updated, feature-rich, and user-friendly cargo customer interface named ‘Digital Lounge.’ The Digital Lounge experience offers better engagement and interaction, increased productivity and time management, and better visibility, transparency, and performance tracking, which adds value for the airline’s customers.
IATA One Record, Cargo Interline Booking APIs for B2B OAL integrations (Marketing & Operating), Auto-AWB Generation API on marketplaces, Click-through Agreement on Online Services platform to provide ease of doing e-AWB, Book now & pay later model, and Pay Module are some other notable initiatives.
“To support our rapid e-booking growth and provide full real-time rate transparency and swift auto-confirmation, we selected PROS pricing and quoting solutions. PROS constitutes a fundamental pillar in our new pricing strategy. This unique digital technology will assist us in achieving our strategic growth objectives by enabling personalised real-time pricing across all available channels,” explains Guillaume.
Handle Unforeseen Challenges
Guillaume says, “The experience, resilience, strength and commitment of our staff have helped us navigate any challenges throughout our journey.”
COVID-19 best illustrates this. Being one of the few international airlines that continued to operate during the pandemic, it was a moral choice to show their dependability and resilience by infusing much-needed capacity into the market and supporting global supply chains at a crucial point in the pandemic.
It’s high responsiveness and flexibility characterise Qatar Airways Cargo. “Our ability to swiftly respond to changing situations and adapt to encountered challenges is our key strength. We can adjust routes, reprogram flights, or implement emergency measures to minimise disruptions in the supply chain. QR works closely with supply chain partners, including regulatory authorities, ground service providers, and other carriers, to coordinate efforts and resolve issues collaboratively. This approach strengthens our ability to address challenges and maintain operational efficiency,” shares Guillaume.
Sustainability
The Qatar Airways organisation is dedicated to making the world a better place. The sustainability program WeQare, which is based on the four fundamental pillars of sustainability—the environment, society, economics, and culture—is one of the numerous charity, environmental, and humanitarian endeavours in which Qatar Airways Cargo is actively involved. It also remains committed to giving back to the communities it serves.
Following the WeQare program, they have introduced four chapters:
o Chapter 1 – One Million Kilos: The COVID crisis sped up the start of this program to move one million kilograms of help and relief supplies. They engaged their customers by allowing them to donate the space to the charities of their choice.
o Chapter 2 – Rewild the Planet was established to provide free transportation to return wild animals to their original habitats.
o Chapter 3 – Let’s Stand Together: For this chapter, donations for children were gathered and assembled in Doha before being given to charity all around the world.
o Chapter 4 – Diversity: This chapter highlighted the diversity of their team, which was depicted on a plane with the words ‘MOVED BY PEOPLE’ on it.
Along with their WeQare program, they continuously look for new ways to improve operational efficiencies, process improvements, digitalisation, fleet modernisation, efficient waste management, and carbon offsetting. The environmental sustainability commitments include:
- Working closely with the industry stakeholders in leading global efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.
- Meeting and exceeding industry best practice standards for Noise and Air Quality.
- Preventing pollution and meeting compliance obligations and other requirements that Qatar Airways Group subscribes to.
- Improving thier performance through Environmental Management Systems.
- Raising awareness across the Group and promoting the training of employees & stakeholders on their Environmental Policy.
- Maintaining a zero-tolerance policy towards the transportation of illegal wildlife and their products.
“Accordingly, we incorporate sustainability requirements into our business planning, and we are constantly enhancing our procedures and protocols to support conservation and biodiversity, including raising awareness on Environmental Policy. In fact, Qatar Airways Cargo is the first carrier in the Middle East certified to the highest level of IATA’s Environmental Assessment programme (IEnvA) – State 2,” states Guillaume.
As a member of the oneworld® alliance, Qatar Airways has committed to having Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by the year 2050, joining the first international alliance to unite around this goal. By 2030, the coalition intends to use 10% sustainable aviation fuel. Qatar Airways has inked an offtake deal to buy 25 million gallons of certified SAF over five years beginning in 2028 as part of this pledge.
“Our sustainability programme also includes market-based measures such as carbon offsetting. In 2020, Qatar Airways partnered with IATA to launch Voluntary Carbon Offset Programme for Passengers, and in November 2021, Qatar Airways Cargo became the first carrier to join the IATA CO2NNECT platform offering voluntary carbon emission offsetting to its cargo customers. In January 2022, we introduced a carbon emission calculator on our website, marking a new milestone in our environmental sustainability journey,” concludes Guillaume.