Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited won a contract to handle a new weekly Boeing 747-8F service for SW Italia.

The new flight – which routes from Hong Kong to Prague – is for the exclusive use of Sto Express, one of the major Chinese express operators. The aircraft is operating in Sto Express livery, and is thought to be the first regular freighter operation to Europe for any Chinese express carrier.

SW Italia president and chief executive Ignazio Coraci said: “We look forward to working with Sto Express on this exciting new project, and are very happy to entrust the vitally important ground handling element of the operation to our long-term service partner Hactl.”

Hactl chief executive Mark Whitehead added: “We are delighted to extend our relationship with SW Italia to include this new operation, which clearly signals the growing role of the mainstream airfreight industry in e-commerce logistics.”

Last month, Whitehead said Hactl was expecting a full year improvement in demand despite a flat start to the year.