Air China has extended its cargo handling contracts with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in France and the UK by a further three years.
The contract extension in Paris sees WFS handling cargo carried onboard 12 to 14 passenger flights per week connecting the French capital with Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai as well as 10 weekly freighter services linking Paris with Chengdu and Hangzhou.
Air China will also utilise the handler’s trucking network in France and offline handling at 10 regional airports in the country.
In the UK, Air China has awarded contract extensions to WFS at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick Airports.
At Heathrow, the carrier operates 24 passenger flights per week carrying cargo to and from Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai.
WFS is also contracted to provide cargo handling services for the airline’s 14 flights which connect London Gatwick with Beijing and Shanghai each week as well as road transport services and offline handling at other regional airports.
“Air China is a major customer of WFS across our international network. Our strong global partnership continues to grow, based on our ability to meet all the airline’s service and growth expectations,” said John Batten, WFS chief executive, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia (EMEAA).
The contract extension comes as the carrier has recently deployed its latest freighter aircraft on flights to Europe.
At the start of June, the airline put its first converted Airbus freighter into operation, according to conversion house Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW).
The first flight of the A330P2F took off on June 4 from Chengdu heading to Paris, said EFW.
Last year, EFW and Air China Cargo struck a deal for EFW to redeliver eight A330P2Fs, converted from Air China’s own stock.
The first of these was delivered to Air China Cargo at the end of last year by EFW’s conversion partner, Ameco Beijing.