On May 29, Qatar Airways Cargo, in supporting global poultry breeding company Aviagen® and sister company Hubbard®, utilised its flight traveling from Doha, Qatar to Hong Kong to make a stop in Bangladesh and delivered the 168,760 Ross®, Indian River®, and Hubbard day-old breeding stock chicks through Qatar’s QR Live service, which operates in compliance with IATA's Live Animal Regulations. This was the largest single shipment of day-old breeding stock chicks ever.

Chicks were shipped from three locations – Chicago in the United States, and Paris and Amsterdam in Europe – all converging in Doha, Qatar. From there they boarded the diverted flight of a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 freighter to travel to Bangladesh, where they were dispatched to the individual farms of Aviagen customers Kazi Grandparents Ltd. (Indian River) and Nahar Agro Complex Ltd. (Ross), as well as Hubbard customer Aftab Hatchery Ltd. The chicks arrived safely and on time on May 30.

From the moment the chicks left their respective hatcheries in the United States and Europe, until they arrived safely on customer farms in Bangladesh, their health and welfare were the top priority for the scores of people managing their care. They were kept well-hydrated, and their temperature and airflow were controlled and monitored along every step of the journey. All international animal transportation guidelines were followed to ensure the health, safety, and comfort of the chicks, and as an added safeguard, an animal attendant stayed with the birds and cared for them throughout the flight from Doha.

The successful receipt of 168,760 healthy chicks to customer farms in Bangladesh required extraordinary logistical planning, organisation and collaboration among all parties involved: the team of export specialists, Qatar Airways Cargo, JAS Worldwide freight forwarding company, NNR global logistics company, the Bangladesh Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Agriculture Service (FSA), USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHID) liaison, the three customers and others.

“We are glad to support our customer Aviagen to transport their largest shipment of day-old chicks. We have expanded our operations during this crisis operating charters and freight-only passenger aircraft in addition to our scheduled freighter operations to support global trade and enable customers like Aviagen to transport their products seamlessly around the world,” said Guillaume Halleux, chief officer cargo with Qatar Airways.