Flying fish through the desert
Meat, fish, vegetables via Dubai and Doha. The Arabian Peninsula isn’t really renowned as a big exporter of perishable goods. Its central location, however, between farms, breeders and fishermen on the one hand and consumer markets on the other, makes the region’s airports key transfer interfaces.
Sooner or later the contents of every second consignment that leaves an African airport on board a Qatar Airways Cargo aeroplane lands on a table in a restaurant, or on a supermarket shelf, somewhere in the world.
The airline from the Persian Gulf is the world’s largest airfreight operator today (see page 14 of ITJ 27-30/2022). It transported more than 37,000 t of agricultural produce through its Doha hub last year. The goods came from 26 stations in its network, covering 20 African countries.
The 6,000 t of meat it flew from Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania was destined mainly for the Middle East itself. The 5,300 t of fish, water melons from North Africa, blueberries and strawberries from Egypt, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, in turn, were mostly delivered to the Far East and Europe.
The fish includes Nile perch from Uganda and hake from South Africa as well as a mix of seafood from Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia as well as the Seychelles.
From Africa and beyond
Nicolas Danton, the airline’s regional cargo manager for Africa, pointed out that “Qatar Airways Cargo plays a big role in connecting Africa to the world, particularly in the context of the simplified transport of perishables requiring a seamless cool chain in order to arrive in the best possible state.”
Emirates SkyCargo, from neighbouring Dubai (UAE), also specialises in the same sector. This season it has transported 30% more mangoes than in 2021. The largest part thereof hails from South Asia, mainly from Pakistan, with 6,500 t flown out of Karachi (80%) and Lahore (20%).
Mostly the fruit is loaded into the belly of one of the 31 weekly Boeing B777 flights from these two airports a mere 48 hours after harvest. After a 14–18 hour transfer through
Dubai the fresh fruit is delivered to supermarkets in the United Kingdom (3,600 t) or in Germany (700 t), amongst many other places.