Burgeoning growth in airfreight between Hong Kong and Europe has prompted the American transport giant United Parcel Service to launch a non-stop freighter flight four times a week to the UPS hub in Cologne, Germany, which began yesterday.
The service, using a Boeing 747-400 with a 100-tonne capacity, will augment an existing freighter flight running seven times a week between Hong Kong, Dubai and Cologne.
Brian Cusson, president for UPS North Asia, said Hong Kong business had driven demand for the new flight, which operates from Monday to Thursday. He added that for UPS, Hong Kong and south China were seeing double-digit growth in cargo volumes, although he declined to give actual percentages.
Cusson indicated that most of the cargo on the new flight would originate in Hong Kong, rather than be transshipped from the mainland or elsewhere in Asia.
Asked if UPS was considering direct flights between the mainland and Europe, Cusson said such services were 'under evaluation' but there were no further details.
UPS saw mainland cargo volumes surge more than 40 per cent last year, powered by the opening of its new intra-Asian cargo hub at Shenzhen's Baoan International Airport in early February last year. UPS transferred its intra-Asian air freight operations from the former Clark air base in the Philippines.
William Ng, UPS managing director for Hong Kong and Macau, said the company saw 'enormous opportunities' from the Pearl River Delta.