Qatar Airways Cargo unveiled plans yesterday to increase its positon in three new markets – the trans-Pacific, Australia and South America – with ambitions of becoming a “strong player” there in the next nine months, according to Qatar’s CEO of cargo, Ulrich Ogiermann.

At a press conference held on the opening day of Air Cargo China 2016 in Shanghai, Ogiermann told the audience that these plans would be made possible through new acquisitions including nine 777Fs, eight 330Fs and two 747Fs.

He also pointed to Qatar’s new European hub in Luxembourg, where Ogiermann announced Qatar would double its flights starting July 1.

Qatar, the world’s third largest international carrier, will expand its freighter fleet to 22 aircraft by 2017, Ogiermann said. It will also add New York’s JFK and Halifax to its freighter destinations starting this July.

The airline concurrently launched its QR Live service for animal transport. The service is run out of the airline’s 4,200-square-meter, air-conditioned live animal facility in Doha.

The facility features holding areas, eight stalls for horses (9 square meters for each), a 24/7 dedicated expert animal health care service, a 300-square-meter paddock, rubber pavers for a “soft walk” area, hydraulic loading and unloading docks, and hydraulic workstations.