Qatar Airways ends 9-minute cargo flight route connecting Maastricht, Liege

Qatar Airways is putting an end to its roughly 40-kilometer cargo flight route between Maastricht-Aachen Airport and the airport in Liège. With a flight time of about 9 minutes, the company had been trying to satisfy the needs of one specific client that required goods to be offloaded at Maastricht.

The controversial flight is served by Boeing 777-200LR, and is a stop along a flight path from Doha to Mexico City, and the return. To Mexico, the flight first lands in Maastricht, then Liège, and on to Mexico then Los Angeles.

Dutch Infrastructure Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen said she wants the government to ban such short cargo flights.

Qatar Airways told politicians in Belgium it will no longer make such short journeys, according to broadcaster NOS. The short stop required 1.5 tons of jet fuel, NOS said.