ASIAN CARRIERS STEP UP FLIGHTS, FREQUENCY

There is renewed interest in the Latin American market with several Asian carriers launching direct flights or increasing frequency to US gateways Miami and Los Angeles, reports Correspondent Ian Putzger

SIA Cargo freighters are back in Latin America. Last month, the Singapore airline mounted a weekly freighter service to Brazil, which runs from its home base via Hong Kong to Dallas/Fort Worth and on to Viracopos airport in Sao Paulo, returning to Asia via Dallas, Brussels and Sharjah. 

SIA has signalled that it intends to add a second weekly frequency during the autumn.

The operation marks SIA Cargo’s second foray into the Latin American market. Back in 2010 it had briefly run a freighter once a week over Europe to Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, but the operation was suspended after a mere two months. Until recently SIA’s presence in Latin America was confined to three weekly passenger flights to Sao Paulo, which are routed over Barcelona.

SIA Cargo president Tan Tiow Kor described the addition of maindeck service as a strategic move. “These new freighter services demonstrate our confidence in the growth potential of the Brazilian market and we will extend our network coverage to over 70 cities in more than 30 countries,” he said.

Another Asian airline, Korean Air, mounted freighter flights to Brazil last November, operating B747-400F cargo planes three days a week to Lima and Sao Paulo. Like SIA’s new Brazil freighter, these are grafted onto transpacific service to the US.

03/09/2012  :  Cargo News Asia.

FULL NEWS / PERMALINK