MASkargoMASkargo has strengthened its presence in Southeast Asia with the opening of its first A330-200 freighter flight to Hanoi, Vietnam.

The air cargo division of Malaysia Airlines said in a statement the scheduled flights will depart for Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport every Wednesday and Friday from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.

The routing for the twice-weekly flight will be Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Labuan in Malaysia, Hanoi, and back to Kuala Lumpur, reports Bernama, the Malaysian state news agency.

“We want to grow in the Vietnamese market by facilitating export and import links between that country and its trading partners,” said MASkargo chief executive officer Mohd Yunus Idris. “With a GDP growth of 5.42 percent in 2013, we are definitely seeing a huge potential to grow our business in Vietnam.”

Hanoi is known for its large exports of electronic parts and equipment, garments, and footwear.

In other news, the Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal (PACTL) reported a record-high first quarter traffic volume for the group.

PACTL said freight volumes rose by 14.44 percent to 321,549 tonnes in the first three months of 2014 year-over-year. It also logged a record growth of 17.38 percent in March compared to the same period last year.

The big tonnage surge was reportedly bolstered by a healthy domestic business and a double-digit expansion in international exports in March.

Photo: Aero Icarus

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