Brussels Airlines Cargo is launching operations to four more destinations in West Africa in conjunction with its global GSA partner, European Cargo Services (ECS).

From July, the airline will commence four flights a week to and from Accra, Ghana via Monrovia, Liberia. In addition, Brussels Airlines will serve Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso with two weekly flights in combination with Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

New twice weekly operations will also add Cotonou, Benin and Lome, Togo to the airline's thriving network in Africa. With the addition of the new routes, Brussels Airlines will serve 18 destinations in Africa.

The new routes have been made possible by the arrival of a fifth Airbus A330-300 into the Brussels Airlines' fleet. The aircraft offers 10 tons of available belly-hold cargo capacity.

Guy Hardy, Head of Cargo Sales for the airline, stated: 'Our business to West Africa has proven resilient despite the economic pressures seen in other markets around the world. With the excellent support of ECS, we are strongly positioned at the leading supplier of scheduled cargo services across West Africa and the launch of four more destinations makes our position even stronger. We expect a healthy performance to the end of the year and sustainable growth.'

ECS has the exclusive, global rights to sell Brussels Airlines' cargo capacity to all 18 destinations serviced by the airline in West Africa. In Togo, the airline will co-operate closely with Africa West Cargo, the regional all-cargo airline and a subsidiary of ECS.

Brussels Airlines provides scheduled cargo services to Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo Cote D'Ivoire, Gambia, Burundi, Guinea, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Angola, Kenya and Liberia.