UPS has taken delivery of its first Boeing 747-400, soon to be deployed on its long-haul international routes in the Asia-Pacific region.

The new freighter is expected to fly to Hong Kong, Incheon, Sydney and Shanghai, where UPS is building its China air hub, reports UK Transport Intelligence.

After a while the aircraft will focus primarily on serving Cologne, Dubai and Mumbai as part of the company's round-the-world service.

"As we continue to see strong international growth, the 747-400 is a perfect fit for UPS," said its chairman and CEO Mike Eskew. "It has tremendous range and payload capacity so we can satisfy the need of customers to move packages and freight overseas. This is a plane that has a strong record in safety, reliability and environmental friendliness."

UPS will take delivery of a three more new 747-400s this year and another five next year. The company also plans to purchase five more of these aircraft from other carriers by 2010, bringing the total fleet size to 13.

The 747-400 has a payload of 273,300 pounds with a range of 4,400 nautical miles. It has 30 load positions on its main deck and can carry 32 smaller containers on its lower deck. General Electric CF6-80C2B5F engines power the aircraft.