Qatar Airways Cargo launches transpacific flight from Macau to LA

Qatar Airways Cargo has launched a twice-weekly trans-Pacific 777 freighter service from Macau, China (MFM) to Los Angeles (LAX), adding one hundred tonnes of cargo capacity per flight leg “just in time for the holiday season, when air freight demand is high, and the market is strong,” CEO Guillaume Halleux commented.

Originating at the carrier’s Doha Hub (DOH), the flight stops in MFM before continuing on a round-the-world rotation with stops in LAX, Mexico City (MEX) and Liège (LGG) before returning to DOH.

The flight will serve demand for freight capacity out of the Pearl River Delta zone – a region which encompasses the densely populated along the southeast coast of China across the mouth of the Pearl River Delta – including Hong Kong and Macau. The metropolitan area is a logistics epicenter of air and sea freight, as well as a major manufacturing hub.

As the economy in the intra-Pearl River Delta area becomes increasingly interconnected through overland connections such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, air cargo operations at MFM could receive a boost. The 55km bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China –set to open later this month – will cut travel times between HKG and Zhuhai from 4 hours to just 45 minutes.

Returning to Qatar Cargo’s new freighter service, the Middle Eastern carrier said cited demand for transportation of the region’s major exports, which include electronics, garments and e-commerce goods, while imports consist mainly of general consumer goods to be dispersed throughout the regional area.