MASkargo has announced a new China maindeck service with the carrier flying a A330-200F into Zhengzhou twice weekly from 18 May. Offering 60 tonnes capacity, the freighter will fly Wednesdays and Sundays with additional scheduled trucking network service to selected destinations from Zhengzhou. These destinations include: Beijing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hefei, Jinan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shijiazhuang, Tianjin, Wuhan and Xi’an.

The move is part of the Malaysia Airlines’ cargo division’s re-alignment to focus on the regional market with its own equipment and form partnerships with other carriers for its long haul cargo needs.

MASkargo’s chief executive, Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi told Payload Asia in February that the carrier would dispose of its B747-400Fs, but keep its fleet of four A330-200Fs which, with their range and 65 tonne capacity, making them ideal for the carrier’s intra-Asia ambitions.

“We will still continue to be the air cargo carrier for Malayasia with a focus on Southeast Asia, India, China and Japan,” Luqman said, adding that long-haul widebody freighter operations will be operated through “collaboration”.

“We will still operate B747 freighters, but not on our metal, that’s the sort of fleet synergy we are looking at. We believe in growing, not organically with our own metal, but through partnerships – that will be the new network philosophy for MASargo,” he said.

The first such collaboration saw MASkargo sign a Memorandum of Cooperation with Azerbaijan’s Silk Way Airlines focusing on block-space agreements, ground-handling and line maintenance. Importantly the agreement will enable MASkargo to continue serving the important Amsterdam market using SilkWay metal via the carrier’s Baku hub.