DOHA-HEADQUARTERED Qatar Airways Cargo's move to offer its capacity on airfreight booking portal WebCargo is just the beginning of its digital journey, according to the carrier's chief officer cargo, Guillaume Halleux.
Speaking to London's Air Cargo news, Mr Halleux said over recent years it has been busy growing its fleet as it sought to reach its goal of becoming the world's largest cargo carrier. Additionally, it had been focussed on developing its own website.
However, after reaching the top spot it is now ready to expand its digital presence, with its partnership with WebCargo a first step.
'We have been busy growing with a double-digit increase in chargeable weight per year and that is one reason why we did not engage with third-party platforms in the past,' Mr Halleux said.
Through WebCargo, Qatar Airways can provide forwarders that use the platform with real-time pricing, capacity and e-booking.
The rollout began with France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa and Spain on February 7 before being extended to other countries.
As part of the launch, Qatar Airways Cargo will offer a discount scheme to forwarders that meet certain eligibility criteria, resulting in an average saving of US$0.06 per kg for the first 20,000 shipments booked via the platform in the rollout countries.
The cargo carrier added that it will implement a number of special promotions later in the year.
Mr Halleux said that the move comes as demand for digital services has been growing over the past few years and this trend has been accelerated by the covid-19 outbreak.
Looking ahead, Mr Halleux was not able to reveal specifics about Qatar Airways Cargo's future plans for digitalisation but he said there was more to come.
SeaNews Turkey
Speaking to London's Air Cargo news, Mr Halleux said over recent years it has been busy growing its fleet as it sought to reach its goal of becoming the world's largest cargo carrier. Additionally, it had been focussed on developing its own website.
However, after reaching the top spot it is now ready to expand its digital presence, with its partnership with WebCargo a first step.
'We have been busy growing with a double-digit increase in chargeable weight per year and that is one reason why we did not engage with third-party platforms in the past,' Mr Halleux said.
Through WebCargo, Qatar Airways can provide forwarders that use the platform with real-time pricing, capacity and e-booking.
The rollout began with France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa and Spain on February 7 before being extended to other countries.
As part of the launch, Qatar Airways Cargo will offer a discount scheme to forwarders that meet certain eligibility criteria, resulting in an average saving of US$0.06 per kg for the first 20,000 shipments booked via the platform in the rollout countries.
The cargo carrier added that it will implement a number of special promotions later in the year.
Mr Halleux said that the move comes as demand for digital services has been growing over the past few years and this trend has been accelerated by the covid-19 outbreak.
Looking ahead, Mr Halleux was not able to reveal specifics about Qatar Airways Cargo's future plans for digitalisation but he said there was more to come.
SeaNews Turkey