Qatar Airways Cargo has reported a record year for seafood shipments from Norway in 2021. Salmon makes up 95% of all perishable seafood carried onboard the company's flights from Scandinavia. Norway is the world's number one salmon exporter with 1.3 million tonnes of salmon at a value of €8.57 billion.
In a statement, Qatar Airways Cargo explained that salmon is a "particularly delicate cargo commodity". It requires "skilled, hygienic handling in temperature-controlled conditions and, above all, reliable, fast connections to its final destination".
In addition, Rob Veltman, Vice President Cargo Europe at Qatar Airways, said: "By introducing passenger freighters to the Norwegian seafood market, including Harstad-Narvik Airport in Evenes and Bodø Airport in Northern Norway, Qatar Airways Cargo significantly increased its capacity to the Norwegian market in 2021 when it was needed the most."
"Qatar Airways Cargo transported more than 46,000 tonnes of Norwegian seafood in 2021, the highest result yet. The airline transports more than 125 tonnes of seafood from Oslo every single day," Veltman added.
A month ago, we already published that the export value of Norwegian seafood has never been higher in the first quarter than in 2022, as reported by the Norwegian Seafood Council.