Qatar Airways commits to industry standard for transportation of live animals
DOHA, Qatar, 2016-Mar-28 — /Travel PR News/ — Qatar Airways has signed the United for Wildlife Transport Industry Declaration at Buckingham Palace in the presence of HRH The Duke of Cambridge and The Rt. Hon. the Lord Hague of Richmond.
Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo, Mr. Ulrich Ogiermann attended the ceremony to sign the declaration, which focuses on the illegal trade in African elephants, rhinos, some big cats, and pangolins that originates from and transits through East Africa.
“We are extremely proud to be part of this initiative that recognises the need to protect endangered species from illegal trade and transportation,” said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker. “It is important that we work together as an industry to prevent violations of the regulations that have been put in place to safeguard these animals and to adopt a zero tolerance policy regarding illegal wildlife trade.
“As one of the world’s leading airlines, serving customers across six continents, we acknowledge our responsibility to society, to the community and to the environment; therefore we have a strict policy governing the types of animals and animal products that are banned for carriage on board Qatar Airways.”
The United for Wildlife declaration, which is supported by the International Air Transport Association, commits the participating airlines to increase passenger, customer, client, and staff awareness about the nature, scale, and consequences of illegal wildlife trade. It will also develop mechanisms to enable the transport sector to receive and share timely information about the transport of suspected illegal wildlife and their products, including methods of transportation, key routes, ports and other locations.
Qatar Airways was one of a small group of aviation industry leaders invited to attend the signing ceremony in London. As an inaugural signature to the United for Wildlife Transport Industry Declaration, Qatar Airways acknowledges the scale and complexity of the challenge of illegal wildlife transportation and hopes its leadership encourages other airlines to work together to conserve the world’s natural heritage for generations to come.
Qatar Airways Cargo, which is the world’s third biggest international cargo carrier, also adheres to industry recommendations and best-practice for the transportation of live animals through its state-of-the-art hub in Doha. The innovative airline offers transport and provides dedicated handling facilities for horses, domestic pets, livestock, tropical fish and small mammals.
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Notes to Editors:
Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, is one of the fastest growing airlines operating one of the youngest fleets in the world. Now in its 19th year of operations, Qatar Airways has a modern fleet of 181 aircraft flying to more than 150 key business and leisure destinations across six continents.
Qatar Airways won Airline of the Year, Best Business Class Airline Seat and Best Airline in the Middle East at the 2015 Skytrax Awards. This is the third time the airline won the accolade of Airline of the Year.
Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld global alliance. The award-winning alliance was named the World’s Best Airline Alliance 2015 by Skytrax for the third year running. Qatar Airways was the first Gulf carrier to join global airline alliance,oneworld, enabling its passengers to benefit from more than 1,000 airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,250 daily departures.
Qatar Airways launched Oryx One in 2015, an enhanced interface for its inflight entertainment system, increasing the number of movies and TV shows on board from 950 to up to 3,000. Passengers flying on Qatar Airways flights served by its B787, A350, A380, A319 as well as select A320 and A330 aircraft can also stay in touch with their friends and family around the world by using the five-star airline’s on-board Wifi and GSM service.
Qatar Airways Cargo, the world’s third largest cargo carrier, serves more than 50 exclusive freighter destinations worldwide via its Doha hub and also delivers freight to more than 150 key business and leisure destinations globally on 181 aircraft. The Qatar Airways Cargo fleet now includes eight Airbus 330, eight Boeing 777 freighters and one Boeing 747 freighter.
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For further information contact:
Qatar Airways Group, Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +974 40222072, Fax: +974 40225350
E-mail: qrmedia@qatarairways.com.qa
Website: www.qatarairways.com
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A small group of aviation industry leaders were invited to attend the signing ceremony in London