China's largest airline by fleet size China Southern will open two new air cargo routes this month, reported Xinhua.

China Southern took the delivery of two Boeing 777-200 freighters recently, which increased the size of its freighter fleet to six, including two Boeing 747-400s and four Boeing 777-200s.

One of the new air cargo routes is from Shanghai to Amsterdam with stopover at Vienna, and the other is from Guangzhou to Amsterdam.

The airline company first placed orders for Boeing 777-200 freighters on December 3 last year, a key step forward in its cargo development plans.

The airline will take delivery of another Boeing 777-200 freighter in late August, becoming China's largest Boeing 777 freighter operator.

Its June cargo and mail transportation surged by 35.60 percent year-on-year, to 84,680 metric tonnes. Its overall load factor climbed 4.70 percent to 68.2 percent in the month.

In the first half of the year, China Southern carried 512,020 tonnes of mail and cargo, up 37.7 percent year-on-year, and its general load factor was 67.70 percent in the six months, up 4.10 percent year-on-year.

 Source: www.cargonewsasia.com