Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Airways announced here Wednesday that it will further expand its world cargo network with a new twice weekly freighter service linking Hong Kong to the fast-growing Indian cities of Mumbai ( Bombay) and, for the first time, Chennai (Madras).

The new service will operate every Tuesday and Friday from June 2 with a Boeing 747-200F freighter. It will also be the airline's first direct freighter service from India to Hong Kong.

The Airline said the addition of this southeastern port city of Chennai will open up a new market for the airline and offer broader national coverage beyond the existing Cathay Pacific cargo and passenger services to Delhi and Mumbai.

Current Cathay Pacific freighter services to India include a three-times weekly flight to Mumbai which continues to Dubai and Paris then returns to Hong Kong via Dubai. The three-times-weekly Delhi service continues to London, then heads back to Hong Kong via Milan.

Cathay Pacific Director and General Manager Cargo Ron Mathison said, "Chennai is a major air cargo center for textiles and clothing industries and will be a useful addition to our global freighter network.

"We will look to adding more freighter services to India later this year when we get more aircraft capacity."

Source: Xinhua