China Eastern Airlines has extended its cargo partnership with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) with a new contract to handle Boeing 777 cargo-only flights in Liege.

In a statement, WFS said the new three-year agreement between the companies would see WFS handling a forecasted 32,000 tonnes of cargo per annum carried onboard up to nine B777 flights a week into the Belgian airport from Yantai Penglai International Airport in China's Shandong Province.

WFS is also providing ramp handling for the airline’s 777 services as well as warehouse operations.

WFS said the contract in Liege increases its role as one of China Eastern's preferred cargo-handling partners. WFS is also supporting the airline's cargo operations and growth at other important airport gateways, including Paris CDG, Frankfurt, Stockholm, and New York JFK.

"Having handled charter flights for China Eastern in Liege last summer, we are delighted to have won this opportunity to support the airline's scheduled cargo-only services to and from Yantai. Liege is a very important and growing cargo hub for WFS in Europe, so it is especially pleasing to welcome another long-term WFS partner as a customer at the airport," said Nathan De Valck, managing director of WFS Belgium.

"We see this as a sign of China Eastern's trust in WFS and our high reputation for handling freighters and cargo-only services. This new route for the airline also shows the resilience of the LGG freighter market and the role WFS is playing in its development of it,"  De Valck added.