The new weekly service to Phnom Penh from Doha, operated by A330 freighters, will offer more than 60 tonnes of cargo capacity each way. This will nearly double the 70-tonne cargo capacity that the airline currently offers every week, in the belly hold of its on daily passenger flights to Phnom Penh via Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
As well as increasing the cargo carrier’s freighter network to seven destinations on the continent, the new the Phnom Penh route is hoped to facilitate Cambodia’s garments business, which accounts for about 80% of the country’s exports.
Commenting on the reasoning behind the new route, Ulrich Ogiermann, Qatar Airways’ chief officer of cargo, said: “Intra-Asia air cargo has grown over the years, and we have observed substantial migration of manufacturing trade from China to Southeast Asian countries, such as Cambodia and Vietnam.”
