Cathay Pacific ties up with AFL, Shreeji

In a bid to improve the reach of its cargo operations, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has entered into a tie-up with two domestic road cargo companies "" AFL and Shreeji Transport.

"We hope that Cathay, AFL and Shreeji Transport can benefit from each other's route network via the tie-up," Rupert Bray, country manager for India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, Cathay Pacific said.

The airlines company is betting big on the domestic air cargo sector. "We expect 233 per cent growth in the Indian cargo sector in 2006 and in line with that, we will be ramping up our cargo operations in the country," Bray said.

Cathay Pacific, which already has a presence in Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai, is looking to utilising AFL and Shreeji's network to improve its presence in the country.

Though unwilling to reveal details regarding the financial aspects of the tie-up, Brady said the tie-up is open ended and does not have a limited time frame.

Besides the alliance, Cathay is also planning to add two more routes via New Delhi by September and one additional route via Mumbai in August.

The airline, which currently has two services on the Hong Kong-Delhi-London route and one on the Hong Kong-Delhi-Paris route, will now start cargo services between Hong Kong-Delhi-Hong Kong and Hong Kong-Delhi-Charles de Gaulle (France).

In a bid to strengthen its cargo operations in Mumbai, besides an additional flight between Mumbai and Hong Kong Cathay is also adding 12 new members to its staff by August.