Evergreen International Airlines has won preliminary US approval for a new air cargo route to China. Evergreen plans to acquire two Boeing 747-400F freighters to operate six round-trip flights a week to Shanghai from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, with stops in Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Columbus, Ohio. The airline plans to carry about 360 tonnes of cargo a week out of China starting March 2009.

Unlike competitors that pick up cargo in South Korea and elsewhere, Evergreen freighters will fly directly to the US, departing and arriving on the same day as they cross the international dateline. “This gives us a long-term commitment,” said Brian Bauer, Evergreen International president. “It enables us to build more for the future as well.”

Two other companies, Kalitta Air of Michigan and TradeWinds Airlines of North Carolina, competed vigorously with Evergreen for the US-China route. The Evergreen win is the result of an intensive lobbying campaign with US Department of Transportation officials said they chose Evergreen because it could best compete with other US-China cargo airlines, which include Federal Express, Northwest Airlines, Polar Air Cargo, United Parcel Service and China Cargo Airlines.