Singapore, China Cargo link up freighters

   Singapore Airlines Cargo and China Cargo Airlines said Monday they will operate joint freighter services between Singapore and Shanghai from June 26.
   The airlines will operate three services weekly between two of Asia’s biggest cargo hubs – two operated with China Cargo’s MD-11 freighters and one with Singapore Cargo’s Boeing 747-400 freighters.
   “We have anticipated a greater partnership with China Cargo Airlines since we signed the joint venture agreement in 2010,” said SIA Cargo’s President Tan Kai Ping. “The new joint service agreement provides more flexibility and better services to customers as it provides more choices of flights for air cargo shipments between Singapore and China.”
   The joint freighter services are part of wide-ranging initiatives between the two airlines, including enhanced system integration and more integrated ground handling at the carriers’ respective hubs at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai and Singapore Changi Airport to improve transshipment times.
   SIA Cargo owns a 16 percent equity interest in Shanghai-based China Cargo Airlines Co. Ltd.
   “The joint freighter services will enable the two airlines to tap into each other’s network through our hubs at Shanghai and Singapore,” said China Cargo Airlines’ President Zhu Yimin. “There will be more direct access to destinations in domestic China on China Cargo’s network whilst we will be able to tap on Singapore Airlines Cargo’s network in the Middle East, Africa, Australia and Latin America.”