Australia's flag carrier Qantas has announced it will be adding Cairns in the state of Queensland to its Sunday B767 freighter service from Sydney to Hong Kong for a six month
trial.
The Boeing 767F service, due to start next month subject to regulatory approval, is aimed at exporters of fresh seafood and agricultural products in the Cairns region, offering them same
day delivery to Hong Kong.
Qantas Freight chief customer officer Nick McGlynn said the new flight provides “over 25 tonnes of freight space and will offer Cairns a direct, nonstop service to Hong Kong with connectivity
across North Asia.”
The government of the state of Queensland, Cairns Airport and the Cairns Regional Council are all supporting the service and McGlynn said: “We encourage Cairns and Far North Queensland exporters
to get behind this freight link so we can continue it into the future.”
Qantas Freight operates a freight terminal at Cairns employing 22 people and offering freight connections to 13 domestic destinations on Qantas Group aircraft.
Vietjet Air targets Aurstralia
In another development, leading Vietnamese budget carrier Vietjet Air and Melbourne's Avalon Airport have announced the launch of direct flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne. Vietjet’s
founder company, Sovico Group, will also establish its Australian representative office in Melbourne, enabling Sovico Group and Vietjet Air to facilitate more opportunities for trade, investment
and tourism between Vietnam and Australia.
VietJet will become the second airline to operate international flights out of Melbourne’s Avalon Airport, after Air Asia, while other Asian destinations are also being considered. The services
are expected to begin in the second half of 2020, subject to regulatory approval.
Comprehensive partnership
CargoForwarder Global reported in late August that the Sovico Group had inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a comprehensive partnership with Linfox Airports, the owner of
Avalon Airport in Australia.
In a statement, the two partners said they would cooperate in the development of passenger and cargo services, aviation facilities and hotel accommodation in Australia as well as enabling to open
and connect flight routes between Vietnam, Melbourne Avalon and other regional destinations in the near future.
Vietjet Air is the first privately-owned and the largest airline in Vietnam, operating 129 routes covering the major domestics destinations in Vietnam and internationally to India, Japan, Hong
Kong, Singapore, Korea, China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Taiwan.
Nol van Fenema
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