Coyne Airways has signed an agreement with Jade Cargo for further B747-400 capacity each Wednesday from Frankfurt to its hub in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. The second weekly B747-400 freighter service to its Tbilisi hub with effect from 1 July is in addition to its existing flight every Monday from London Stansted and Cologne to Tbilisi.

Coyne will offer trucking connections throughout continental Europe as well as the UK, allowing a Tuesday evening close-out in most cases. The Thursday morning arrival gives Coyne’s customers an important competitive edge by allowing freight to be cleared in Tbilisi in advance of the weekend and enabling trucking to Yerevan and Baku before theweekend, the group said.

Coyne – which has operated scheduled all-cargo operations to the Caspian for 15 years – said that a growing desire from its customers for a midweek frequency prompted it to invest in new capacity.

From its Tbilisi hub, Coyne operates regional all-cargo flights to Aktau, Atyrau and Uralsk in Kazakhstan as well as truck services to Baku in Azerbaijan and Yerevan in Armenia. Coyne recently expanded its Caspian network with new services from Tbilisi to Ashgabat and Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan.

As well as oil and gas equipment for exploration, Coyne regularly transports the basic products and personal effects needed to support the large internationalteams working in the region.