UPS ASKS DOT FOR RIGHTS TO LINK HONG KONG TO ASIA, EUROPE HUBS

UPS ASKS DOT FOR RIGHTS TO LINK HONG KONG TO ASIA, EUROPE HUBS    United Parcel Service has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for 18 of 56 new airline flight frequencies authorized by a new bilateral pact between the United States and Hong Kong.
   The new flight frequencies would allow UPS to extend its Asian air routes, via Hong Kong, to UPS’s intra-Asia air hub in the Philippines and its main European air hub in Cologne, Germany.
   UPS wants authority to provide “double daily” service between Hong Kong and the Philippines, and daily service between Hong Kong and Cologne.
   Last month, the United States and Hong Kong negotiated an aviation agreement that expands “beyond rights” through Hong Kong. Only eight flight frequencies are currently authorized for cargo aircraft.
   The new pact approved 56 frequencies over the next two years, which the DOT has to allocate among U.S. carriers.