On December 2, Cathay Pacific Airways celebrated the return of Shanghai to its passenger network, with flight CX362 departing Hong Kong at the scheduled time of 23:35 on December 1, and arriving at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport in the morning on December 2. The airline's first return flight from Shanghai arrived in Hong Kong at 05:45.

The new daily Shanghai service marks an important step for Cathay Pacific as it expands its network in the Chinese Mainland. The airline also offers services to Beijing and Xiamen, with passengers now being offered greater choice and flexibility following the 1 December launch of a code-share arrangement with Dragonair to all three cities. The code-share means that Cathay Pacific's "CX" code is now available on a total of 17 flights each day to and from Shanghai.

Out of Shanghai, the new Cathay Pacific flight, together with the code-share flights, will provide Mainland passengers with greater choice when connecting to the airline's extensive international network through the Hong Kong hub.

Starting from December 2, Cathay Pacific is also adding another five freighter flights each week to Shanghai, taking the total to 17 flights a week. One further freighter service will be added with effect from 5 January 2007. Last month the airline extended its Mainland freighter network further with the launch of a new twice-weekly service to Beijing.

Photograph: Cathay Pacific Manager, Eastern Region China Anna Cheung together with the team at the Shanghai's Pudong International Airport celebrate the arrival of the first flight with the pilots and cabin crew from CX362.