Business & Finance Club - Doha : Qatar Airways Cargo has announced it will begin scheduled freight services to Chicago, Illinois - its first dedicated freight operation to the United States - from August 18.

The new twice-weekly services will be operated with Qatar Airways' new Boeing 777 freighters and will fly from the airline's hub in Doha via Amsterdam.

Payloads on the new services will be up to 100 tonnes per flight and are expected to include freight items such as machinery, textiles, auto parts, fruit and vegetables and general cargo, the carrier said in a statement.

Chicago is the airline's first dedicated freighter destination in the United States and the airline's fourth destination, following passenger and cargo services to New York, Washington DC and Houston.

In the past three months, Qatar Airways Cargo has ramped up its expansion with the recent introduction of two new Boeing 777 freighters adding capacity to the airline's dedicated cargo network. A third Boeing 777 freighter will join the airline's cargo fleet in 2011, it added.

Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said: "With the recent introduction of Boeing 777 freighters into our cargo fleet, we've wasted no time in developing new markets, and we're especially pleased to be launching our first US cargo route to Chicago O'Hare, the busiest airport in the world.

"Qatar Airways Cargo operation is expanding exponentially and our focus on increasing our network means we are always finding new customers and offering existing customers more options and convenience."

New freighter operations have recently commenced to Hong Kong, Mumbai, Cairo, Kolkata and Riyadh, with increases in frequency also planned.

The airline's services to Hong Kong will be boosted to five times a week, effective August 16, up from the initial three weekly flights which began only two months ago.

In all, Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 86 aircraft to 92 cities across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North and South America. The airline has more than 200 aircraft pending delivery with the orders worth more than $40bn.