Qatar Airways cargo chief upbeat about demand in 2026

Carrier has added capacity in Mid-East, Africa and India as 'market moves around', he says

- Annabelle Liang Correspondent

Tariffs by the US have dampened air cargo flows between the country and China, but overall demand for the service will remain strong in 2026 as businesses restructure their supply chains, said Mr Mark Drusch, who heads the cargo function at Qatar Airways.

Chinese companies, for instance, have shown increased interest in sending goods to Africa and the Middle East, regions where Qatar has chosen to allocate more resources, he told The Straits Times in a recent interview.

He said: "Because of uncertainty in the trade markets, we have moved airplanes around as the market moves around.

"We added more capacity into the Middle East. We added capacity into Africa. We have added more capacity into India, because the Indian market has continued to be very strong."

The Doha-headquartered firm is a leading freight carrier with a 7.1 per cent share of the global air cargo market. It handled 2.6 million tonnes of cargo, around the average weight of 17,568 Boeing 777 aircraft, in the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year. This was an increase from 2.4 million tonnes in the previous fiscal year.

Cargo teams work in the background to bring precious and time-sensitive goods from point A to B around the world, ranging from perishable products to mobile phones.