Atlas Air has begun a new weekly air cargo route from Maastricht Aachen Airport in the Netherlands to Asia (including China) on behalf of MSC Air Cargo.
Maastricht Aachen Airport confirmed the launch of the route in a press release on January 9.
The first flight, operated with a one-year-old Boeing 777 freighter with MSC Air Cargo livery, departed from Almaty, Kazakhstan and landed at Maastricht Aachen Airport at 9.45pm on January 9.
At the beginning of 2024, the last of four newbuild Boeing 777 freighters was delivered to Atlas Air, which is operating the aircraft under an ACMI agreement with MSC Air Cargo.
Flights on the recently launched route will carry e-commerce and general cargo.
Air Cargo News has requested more information from Atlas Air and MSC Air Cargo on which destinations are served in Asia aside from China.
Dean Boljuncic, head of commercial development at Maastricht Aachen Airport, said: ”With every new route we improve the connectivity of our airport, region and the Netherlands. Our team is fully prepared to introduce Atlas Air and MSC Air Cargo to the excellent handling for which we are known.
"Our people are continuously trained to load and unload our customers’ cargo carefully and quickly. We provide these training courses ourselves and in this case also in collaboration with Atlas Air Cargo. So that we can continue this collaboration in the long term and perhaps even expand it."
MSC Air Cargo launched operations in December 2022 and adopted Liège Airport as its European hub.
As well as the four 777Fs being flown by Atlas Air, in May, MSC took delivery of a fifth 777F for operation by MSC-owned AlisCargo Airlines.
