CHINA Cargo Airlines has become the second Chinese cargo airline in recent months to start freighter services to Copenhagen.

The cargo subsidiary of China Eastern will start thrice-weekly MD-11F services to a Beijing-Shanghai-Copenhagen-Paris-Shanghai routing on 16 December.

This follows Air China’s launch of thrice-weekly Beijing-Shanghai-Copenhagen-Shanghai services on 21 September.

SAS is taking 30 tonnes a flight on the Air China flights, but has given no indication it will make a similar deal with China Cargo.

“We have heard they are coming to Copenhagen,” says Teddy Zebitz, SAS’s vice-president business systems.

“We are evaluating partners all the time, but have just started cooperation with Air China into Beijing and Shanghai and that is satisfactory to us.”

With China Cargo reportedly in talks with Air China and Cathay Pacific about a joint venture cargo airline, there is speculation that the new flights might be part of a move to establish Copenhagen as a northern European hub for the new entity.