Martinair (Netherlands) (MP, Amsterdam Schiphol) and Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) will drop their freighter services to Santiago de Chile, São Paulo Viracopos, and Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini later this year, as both companies shift capacity to markets with major volumes, the news site CargoForwarder Global reported this week.
Martinair will reportedly drop its 3x weekly B747-400(F) service to São Paulo Viracopos (with two of the flights continuing to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile) on September 19, 2024. Instead, the Air France-KLM subsidiary will redeploy its capacity to a new route to Hong Kong International. It will maintain its 3x weekly operations to Bogotá via Miami International, however.
Adriaan den Heijer, managing director of Martinair, explained in a statement that introducing service to Hong Kong is due to the steady growth of the e-commerce segment and “increased demand for efficient and reliable air freight solutions.”
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways is reportedly suspending its B777-200F operations from Doha to Santiago de Chile and Viracopos later this year but will keep flying to Bogotá, Quito International, and São Paulo Guarulhos. In a statement to CargoForwarder, Qatar Airways said: “Our global customers and consumers drive our capacity and market changes, resulting in Qatar Airways Cargo adding extra frequencies to India, China, Vietnam, and Europe.”
ch-aviation has reached out to Qatar Airways and Martinair for comment.
