Cargoitalia ' Italy's all-cargo flag-carrier ' has turned in another strong result for July-December 2010, concluding its first full year of operations on an upbeat note.

From July-December 2010, the airline operated scheduled services from Milan to Hong Kong, Shanghai (introduced in September 2010), Dubai, Sharjah, New York and Chicago.

During the six-month period, Cargoitalia operated a total of 228 scheduled and charter flights, up from 173 in the first half of 2010 (32% increase). Block hours operated rose 37% from 3,375 (Jan-June) to 4,626 (Jul-Dec).

From July-December, Cargoitalia carried 25,043,124 kilos of freight (up 34% on Jan-June), representing a continuing 89% average load factor by volume and 72% average load factor by weight.

The airline's export traffic in the period represented 42% of the Milan - New York market, 55% of the Milan - Chicago market, 41% of the Milan- Hong Kong market, 25% of Milan-Shanghai traffic and 16% of the Milan-Dubai market.

For the full year, in addition to successfully operating all but one of its scheduled flights, 69% of these departed within 30 minutes of schedule.

Commenting on the results, the airline's Managing Director ' Operations, Giacomo Manzon, says: 'This has been a great first full year for Cargoitalia, and we ended it ahead of our business plan. Cargoitalia continues to grow, and to consolidate its position both in Italy and its overseas markets.' The introduction of our new Atlanta services next month will further improve utilisation and overall traffic figures as we enter one of the USA's most important markets for the first time.'

He concludes: 'As always, we are deeply grateful for the continuing support and trust shown to us by the markets we serve. We will continue to reward this confidence by expanding our range of destinations and further enhancing our service standards.'