OREANDA-NEWS. May 02, 2012. Cathay Pacific Airways announced that it will further expand its presence in India with a new twice-weekly freighter service to Hyderabad, making it the first airline to offer an air cargo service linking India’s fourth most populous city with East and North Asia. In addition, a third weekly freighter flight to Bengaluru will be added to meet high demand to and from India’s leading information technology hub. Both services will commence on 17 May 2012, reported the press-centre of Cathay Pacific.

The launch of the new Hyderabad service and the added frequency to Bengaluru will give shippers more choice and flexibility for connecting to the airline’s international cargo network through the Hong Kong hub.

Cathay Pacific Director Cargo Nick Rhodes said: “India is an increasingly important market for our cargo business. Hyderabad is one of the major hubs for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals in India, accounting for around one-third of the country’s prescription drug production, so we expect a strong demand for our specialized Pharma LIFT products and services. For Bengaluru, we have been seeing increasing demand since we launched our freighter service last August and we believe the time is right for an additional flight each week.”

The Hyderabad service will operate on a Hong Kong-Delhi-Bengaluru-Hyderabad-Hong Kong routing every Thursday and a Hong Kong-Chennai-Hyderabad-Hong Kong routing on Sundays. The third weekly flight to Bengaluru will operate via Mumbai on Saturdays, in addition to the current flights every Monday and Thursday.

“The launch of these new flights will reinforce Cathay Pacific’s position as one of the biggest airfreight operators in India. The latest schedule enhancements mean that Cathay Pacific will operate 19 cargo flights a week to five major commercial cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad,” added Mr Rhodes.