FedEx launches five-time weekly Hong Kong to Paris flights

FedEx Express, a unit of FedEx Corp, has launched a five times a week Hong Kong-Paris service, with refueling stops in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The new service provides customers from mainland China the convenience of second working day delivery of items to major European destinations, FedEx said.

Since its entry into China in 1984, FedEx has expanded rapidly in the country via cooperation with Tianjin-based local partner, Datian W. Air Service Corp.

FedEx operates 11 flights to China per week into Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing, against only four flights in 1999 to Shanghai and Beijing.

The company now offers services in 221 Chinese cities, up from 144 in 1999, and aims to increase that number to 320 by 2008.

“China has always played a key role in our business strategy and continues to be one of our fastest-growing markets,” David Cunningham, president of FedEx Asia Pacific division told AFX-Asia.