DOHA-BASED airline Qatar Airways is to launch direct five-times weekly flights to Gothenburg, Sweden starting December 12 - making the airline's second Swedish gateway after Stockholm. The service will be served with a Boeing 787-8 aircraft which will also offers cargo capacity out of Gothenburg with this new service. This will provide a direct uplift for major exports to trade markets in Africa, Middle East, Asia, Australia and New Zealand via the carrier's hub in Doha. Qatar Airways Cargo currently offers more than 870 tonnes of cargo capacity each week out of its Nordic destinations Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Chief executive officer at Swedavia, Jonas Abrahamsson, said: "Sweden is the largest economy in Scandinavia, and at the moment it is also the strongest in Europe. New direct routes are an important contributing factor, as they improve connectivity to markets that are crucial to the Swedish business community and attract capital and knowledge to the region." Qatar Airways launched flights to Stockholm's Arlanda Airport in 2007. The Stockholm-Doha route, which operates 14 flights per week, is also operated by a wide-body Dreamliner 787, reports The STAT Trade Times of Navi Mumbai.