Cathay Pacific Airways is to add Stockholm and Toronto to its freighter network, strengthening Hong Kong's position as a global logistics hub.

This will bring to the number of on-line freighter destinations up to 30, served by the airline, according to a press release from the Cathay Pacific on Monday.

The new flights, along with continued fleet expansion and recently announced plans to build and operate a third air cargo terminal at Hong Kong International Airport, marking Cathay Pacific's aggressive expansion of cargo services to and through Hong Kong, the company said.

Stockholm will be added into the freight network from Sept. 17, 2006, and operate twice a week as an extension of Cathay Pacific's existing flight to Munich.

Toronto route, commencing Sept. 20, 2006, will be a three-times- weekly extension of the airline's freighter service to New York.

Cathay Pacific last month launched a new service to Chennai, India, and plans to increase the frequency of services to Dallas and Atlanta soon.

Cathay Pacific Director and General Manager of Cargo Ron Mathison said, "Our continued growth is critical to the future success of Hong Kong, whose air cargo hub status is increasingly being threatened by lower-cost competition from neighboring airports."

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2006)