OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2014. Cathay Pacific Airways announced that it will boost its freighter services into the United States by launching a twice-weekly scheduled service to Columbus, Ohio on 21 March 2014.

Columbus will be Cathay Pacific's 12th freighter destination in North America. The new service will offer shippers more choice and flexibility when moving commodities between Asia and North America. Meanwhile, the fully operational, state-of-the-art Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal in the Hong Kong hub will further improve onward connections with Cathay Pacific's extensive international cargo network.  

Cathay Pacific Director Cargo James Woodrow said: "Cathay Pacific is delighted to further strengthen our industry leading Trans-pacific service by adding Columbus to our network. Our 13 Boeing 747-8F freighters are the ideal aircraft to link Hong Kong with the Americas giving a reliable and fuel efficient service to our customers."

Cathay Pacific will operate the Columbus service on a Hong Kong – Anchorage – Columbus – New York (JFK) – Vancouver – Hong Kong routing every Wednesday and Friday, using its newest and biggest freighter, the Boeing 747-8F.

Cathay Pacific currently operates cargo services to 11 destinations in North America and flies to 43 freighter destinations around the world. Earlier this month, the airline announced the launch of a thrice-weekly scheduled freighter service to Mexico City on 1 March. Cathay Pacific recently took delivery of its 13th Boeing 747-8F freighter aircraft, with one more on order for delivery in 2016.