UPS KICKS OFF DIRECT CHINA FLIGHTS
United Parcel Service kicked off its direct flights to China when a UPS Boeing 747 departed Ontario International Airport bound for Beijing and Shanghai.
Atlanta-based UPS will offer six flights a week to China, four originating in Ontario and two from Newark N.J., with each flight offering 120 tons of payload. The flights kick off just two months after the U.S. Department of Transportation granted the express carrier rights to operate the service.
UPS has served China since 1988 through partner Sinotrans, connecting through Hong Kong.
UPS anticipates the direct-to-China flights adding $100 million in revenue in the first year of operation, and growing to $300 million a year. The company's export volume to the market increased 45 percent in 2000.