Asiana flies to Portland, restores 747 freighter service to Seoul

OREGON's Portland International Airport (PDX) has restored its international cargo service with Asiana Airlines providing a thrice weekly Boeing 747 freighter service to Seoul effective September 2011.


The Pacific Northwest airport, operated by Port of Portland, will provide cargo flights for shipment of Nike, Intel, Oracle and agricultural products such as Northwest berries. This will greatly increase its capacity for larger freight alongside passenger bellyhold of its Delta Air Lines services to Tokyo and Amsterdam from Portland.


Seoul-based Asiana is confident of a freight market for the return leg to Asia to support its new service already rich with US-bound exports. Exporters in the Northwest can benefit from the alternative of intermodal trucking to Vancouver BC or Los Angeles to catch flights on to Asia.


Asiana rival Korean Air flew cargo in and out of Portland for several years, said Portland lawyer Bob Donaldson, a former honorary consul for South Korea. Although international passenger growth was expected it is a notoriously more expensive market to position. "We always hoped it would blossom into passenger service, but it never did," he said, reported the Portland Oregonian.


The carrier now boasts flights to Seattle, Anchorage, San Francisco and Los Angeles on the West Coast, and to Chicago, New York and Atlanta, with a recent addition of daily service to both Seattle and San Francisco.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)