Qatar Airways Cargo has picked Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) to provide cargo handling services for its new twice-weekly Boeing 777 Freighter flights to Pittsburgh International Airport.

The route was launched on 11 October, making Qatar Airways the first international airline to start scheduled freighter services to Pittsburgh, and becoming the airline’s fifth freighter destination in the Americas to be launched in 2017.

The airline is adding 200 tonnes of cargo capacity a week to support customers in the state of Pennsylvania, complementing the 100 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity already offered on board daily Airbus A350 passenger flights to Philadelphia.

WFS Group chief commercial officer, Barry Nassberg says: “We are delighted to be continuing to grow our international services for Qatar Airways and to be awarded this contract to support its latest new freighter route to and from the US”

“The WFS team in Pittsburgh is committed to ensuring Qatar Airways and its cargo customers receive the highest standards of security, safety and quality of service.”

The new Doha-Luxembourg-Atlanta-Pittsburgh-Luxembourg-Doha route will connect Pittsburgh with European markets via Qatar’s European hub in Luxembourg, and also help to connect businesses in Asia and the Middle East through its home base in Doha.