Cathay to start first direct Hong Kong/India cargo flights

Cathay to start first direct Hong Kong/India cargo flights    Cathay Pacific Airways will from June operate its first ever direct freighter service from India to Hong Kong.
   The first flight of the twice-weekly Hong Kong/Mumbai/Chennai/Hong Kong service will be made June 2. The service will use a 747-200F freighter and will depart from Hong Kong every Tuesday and Friday at 11:40 a.m., arriving in Mumbai at 3 p.m. local time before continuing to Chennai for 6:20 p.m. and arriving back to Hong Kong at 3:35 a.m. the following morning.
   Hong Kong-based Cathay’s existing 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.
   “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,” said Ron Mathison, Cathay’s director and general manager, cargo.