European air carrier Cargolux Airlines is beefing up its weekly freighter flight schedule between Hong Kong and Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, to tap into the robust trade in fashion and apparel goods between the U.S. and China’s special administrative region.
The Luxembourg-based carrier said it will add weekly Friday flights to its current Monday and Wednesday schedule from Hong Kong to Rickenbacker, with the initial Friday flight from Hong Kong arriving at Rickenbacker on May 23.
It added that the new flight service will be utilizing the company’s Boeing 747-8 freighters.
Columbus is one of the major fashion and apparel markets in the world and home to a number of large international fashion companies, said Cargolux, adding that the direct flight from Hong Kong offers shippers of fashion goods and other commodities fast and convenient connections from Asia to the U.S. market.
As one of the world’s few cargo-dedicated airports, Rickenbacker International Airport offers an uncongested option to move air cargo to, from, and within the United States, it continued. The airport is a part of the Rickenbacker Inland Port, which also includes an intermodal terminal, industrial development, and a foreign trade zone.
Cargolux also said it expects to push through with the scheduled services to Zhengzhou, China, from June 14, following delays in seeking approval, as the airline expressed confidence it would get its final operational authorization soon.
Following the cancelled inaugural flight initially planned for April 24, Cargolux said it has been holding ongoing talks with the Civil Aviation Authority of China to get Zhengzhou approved as a regular commercial destination.
As this developed, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reported a 6 percent growth in cargo traffic year-over-year in April to process a total of 362,000 tonnes for the month.
Continued growth in throughput last month was driven mainly by transshipments, which was up 18 percent from April a year ago. Cargo throughput to and from China improved most significantly compared to other regions.
For the first four months of 2014, HKIA handled 1.4 million tonnes of cargo, registering year-on-year growth of 5.6 percent. On a rolling 12-month basis, cargo tonnage increased 3.6 percent to 4.2 million tonnes over the same period last year.
