Aliscargo Airlines, a new Italian cargo airline and the first the first Italian airline entirely dedicated to the intercontinental transport of goods, has begun twice-weekly flights to China.

On July 21, the new carrier reeived its  air operator's certificate (AOC), and on August 18, it flew its first commercial trip between Milan Malpensa and China's Jinan, the capital of eastern China's Shandong province, using a B777-200 in a preighter configuration.

Since then, Aliscargo has been operating the Milan-Jinan flight twice per week and has also operated a spot charter flight to Gaborone in Botswana.

The carrier received its second B777-200 preighter plane on August 20 — as it seeks to launch services to North America eventually.

"Airfreight transport in the world during the two-year period 2020-2021, with the high need for urgent shipments of medical supplies for the pandemic, recorded a surge in significant volumes and turnover compared to previous years," its chairman Fulvio Gismondi said in July, noting that the new company is seeking to capitalize on the booming air cargo industry.

"A trend that has also been reinforced by the continuous and constant expansion of e-commerce. Today, the need to offer customised cargo services, depending on the product and the destination, is increasingly being verified," he added.

Meanwhile, Aliscargo's management team include well-known personalities in the industry including chief executive Francesco Rebaudo and chief commercial officer Ulrich Ogiermann.

Rebaudo in the past he held the positions of CEO of SW Italia, CEO of Cargolux Italia, General Manager of Cargoitalia and Captain with over 18,000 hours of flight.

Ogiermann, meanwhile, was the former CEO at Cargologic Germany Gmbh, SVP, Cargologic Management Ltd., Chief Cargo Officer at Qatar Airways, President and CEO of Cargolux International, and also Senior Manager at Lufthansa Cargo.