MILAN: Cargolux Italia has begun including Novosibirsk in Asian Russia on a new 747-400 freighter service linking Milan, Malpensa airport and its Zhengzhou hub.

Since February this year the airline has been using Novosibirsk as a fuel stop on services between Hong Kong and Milan.

Now, for the first time, the company will be providing capacity for Russian exporters of flowers, garments and machinery while carrying imports of Italian fashion goods, machinery and mechanical spare parts.

"For Cargolux Italia and the Cargolux group, the new flight to Zhengzhou and Novosibirsk represent the consolidation of the presence in the Italian market with the first flight to the province of Henan and Novosibirsk", said Pierandrea Galli CEO and Accountable Manager of Cargolux Italia. "The new service underlines Cargolux Italia status as the main all-cargo carrier at Malpensa and main supporter of the Italian customers, in a time of economic recovery for Italian exports," he added.

Freight traffic via Novosibirsk has grown from 19,663 tons a year in 2010 to 32,000 in 2014 and is forecast to be nearly 77,000 tons by 2020 according to the airport. In addition to Cargolux, regular operators include AirBridgeCargo, Volga-Dnepr and Yangtze River Express.

Cargolux Italia has a 15 percent share of Milan, Malpensa cargo traffic said Andrea Tucci vice president, Aviation Business Development: "This new flight represents a new service for Malpensa in connecting the two destinations for the first time. The direct connection to Zhengzhou is a great opportunity for Malpensa and its territory to improve the freight distribution in the Chinese market through the new Cargolux hub."

On June 19 Cargolux and the Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment Company celebrated one year of their partnership by reiterating a commitment to launching a Chinese cargo airline joint venture and "potentially" setting up a similar agreement for maintenance and engineering operations in Zhengzhou.