Qatar Airways Cargo is the fourth airline worldwide, and the first Middle Eastern carrier, to be awarded the IATA CEIV Live Animals certification in January this year.
Doha: Qatar Airways Cargo carried 190 of the world’s fastest racehorses and finest show jumping and dressage horses on its freighters over the past few weeks.
This is due to the Amir Sword Festival in Doha held on February 17 to 19, the Saudi Cup in Riyadh on February 25 to 26, the Commercial Bank CHI AL SHAQAB presented by Longines in Doha from February 24 to 26, and the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) in Doha held on March 3 to 5.
The prestigious H H The Amir Sword Festival, hailed as the high point in the Qatar equestrian racing calendar, attracts thoroughbreds and pure Arabian horses from all over the world, in competition to win the $4.34m in prize money.
The horses transported by Qatar Airways Cargo originate in Ireland, the United Kingdom and France. Those horses competing in the CHI AL SHAQAB and LGCT, on the other hand, come from all over Europe.
Qatar Airways Cargo coordinates their transport together with specialised horse agents in Europe and Qatar. They travel via the Horse Inn at Liège Airport (LGG), which sees much of Europe’s horse traffic and Hamad International Airport. In total, three full horse charters flew from LGG to DOH, two on February 19 and one on February 20.
The Saudi Cup preparations were a little more complex since they involved arranging a double pick-up from the USA.
Between February 14 to 16, Qatar Airways Cargo flew first to Los Angeles (LAX) to pick up four horses, and from there on to Miami (MIA), to collect another eight and fly them all to Riyadh (RUH), Saudi Arabia.
Two days later, on February 18, 14 horses were flown from Osaka Airport (KIX) in Japan, to Riyadh, also for the Saudi Cup.
“Every horse transport requires meticulous advance planning and coordination with the customers, the specialised freight forwarders, and the respective airport facilities. We take great pains to ensure that the animals entrusted to our care have as stress-free a journey as possible, naturally in line with all animal transport regulations. Alongside state-of-the-art horse stalls, and seats for the grooms on board our freighters, we also ensure that the distance to the aircraft from the airport animal facility, as well as the waiting times are as short as possible,” Qatar Airways Chief Officer, Cargo, Guillaume Halleux explained.
“Race-horses often have a very high value, and they are shipped three to seven days prior to the event in order to be at peak fitness on the race day. We are well versed in dealing with this precious cargo. Horses meanwhile make up around 35 percent of all our QR Live animal shipments, and we are one of the main horse transportation carriers in the world,” he added. All horses were safely returned to their countries, on board three charter flights from Doha to Liège on February 28, and March 6 and 7, respectively.
Qatar Airways Cargo is the fourth airline worldwide, and the first Middle Eastern carrier to be awarded the IATA CEIV Live Animals certification in January this year.
The airline has in-depth experience in transporting horses and world-class thoroughbreds and is a long-standing sponsor of HH The Amir Sword Festival and partner of the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC).
