HONG KONG, Jan. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's biggest carrier, celebrated the success of its first freighter service to Shanghai, the company said in a statement on Friday.

    Flight CX050 departed here at 11:00 p.m. Thursday evening and arrived at Shanghai airport on schedule Friday morning. The airline's first return service from Shanghai also arrived back in Hong Kong Thursday, said the statement.

    "With the launch of the new freighter service to Shanghai, we will connect the Mainland's commercial capital to destinations throughout our network and further strengthen Hong Kong as a global logistics hub and gateway to the Mainland," Cathay Pacific Director and General Manager Cargo Ron Mathison said.

    The daily Boeing 747-200F service will funnel goods through Hong Kong to and from major markets in Asia, the United States andEurope. The airline also plans to add additional freighter frequencies to Shanghai in the near future.

    Shanghai joins Beijing as the second Mainland city that Cathay Pacific serves. The network will extend to three cities when the airline launches a thrice-weekly passenger service to Xiamen at the end of February. Enditem