MASkargo operates four A330-200F aircraft, covering the world's major cargo hubs. — File Photo

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — MASkargo launched its first A330-200 freighter flight to Ha Noi on April 16, two years after its twice-weekly service to HCM City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

The A330-200 will fly to the Noi Bai International Airport from Kuala Lumpur every Wednesday and Friday. The twice-a-week flight will depart from Kuala Lumpur and fly to Singapore, Labuan, Hanoi and return to Kuala Lumpur.

"We want to grow in the Vietnamese market by facilitating export and import links between Viet Nam and its trading partners. With a GDP growth of 5.42 per cent in 2013, we are definitely seeing a huge potential for expanding our business in Viet Nam," said Mohd Yunus Idris, Chief Executive Officer of MASkargo.

He added that Ha Noi is known for its large export quantities of electronic parts and equipments as well as garments and footwear. MASkargo is confident in supporting Ha Noi in the fast and efficient movement of goods, from which it would greatly benefit, and enable access to global destinations across Asia, Europe, India, Japan and the Middle East.

In 2012, MASkargo launched the Kuala Lumpur–HCM City–Bangkok–Kuala Lumpur network. Two years later, the traffic on this route is still going strong.

In addition, MASkargo also operates weekly freighter services to HCM City with a generous payload. Simultaneously, Malaysia Airlines also complements its role with a commercial flight via the B737-800 on the Kuala Lumpur-Ha Noi-Kuala Lumpur sector.

MASkargo's General Sales Agents, Aviation Solutions Services Co. Ltd, has indicated that it expects the initial response to the dedicated freighter to be encouraging and in tandem with the economic growth. Hence, an increase in the number of daily services could be considered in the near future.

As one of the youngest freighter fleets in the Asian region, the utilisation of the A330-200 freighter allows MASkargo to build capacity and expand its network to new markets with improved reliability and cost efficiency.

MASkargo Sdn Bhd is the air cargo division of Malaysia Airlines. It operates two B747-400F and four A330-200F aircraft, covering the world's major cargo hubs. It also offers belly space in the Malaysia Airlines passenger fleet which serves almost 100 destinations worldwide. — VNS