Weekly services will be operated between Bournemouth and Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in Zhejiang province using a Boeing 767-300 Freighter with 45 tonnes of capacity.
The Bournemouth-Hangzhou route is part of Maersk’s growing air cargo network connecting China, south east Asia, Europe and the US.
In March, Maersk launched services between Hangzhou and Billund Airport in Denmark and started flying between Hangzhou and Chicago Rockford International Airport in the US in April.
The Bournemouth services, which will be served by the airport’s cargo division, Cargo First, until the end of the year to meet peak season demand and will potentially continue into 2024.
Gary Jeffreys, Managing Director of Maersk Area UK & Ireland, says, “It’s fantastic to see Maersk Air Cargo landing in the UK. This represents our integrator strategy and demonstrates our product offering and capabilities across all modes of transport. Whether it be time critical, capacity challenges or product launches we have the capabilities to meet our customers’ demands.”
Welcoming Maersk to the airport, Steve Gill, Managing Director of Bournemouth Airport, says, “We now have 500 tonnes of weekly import capacity operating between China and Bournemouth as more customers take advantage of our location, lack of slot constraints and ‘One Team’ integrated approach across all airport and cargo handling operations.”