United Parcel Service Inc. has launched four new direct flights from Hong Kong to Cologne,Germany, to expand options for customers shipping goods from Asia to Europe.The Boeing 747-400s will fly Monday through Thursday, augmenting seven existing weekly flights from Hong Kong to Cologne via Dubai,United Arab Emirates.

With the flights’ expansion of express service, which allows shipments from Hong Kong to 39 cities in 18 European countries in one day, the company becomes the leading provider of one-day shipping service on that corridor, according to a news release.The new direct flights will significantly reduce the transit time between Hong Kong and Europe, providing our customers a fast and efficient option when doing business with their European trading partners, said Derek Woodward, president of UPS Asia Pacific, in the release.UPS has a major air hub in Cologne. The Atlanta-based logistics and package-delivery company operates 156 flights within Europe every day and has 460 air and ground facilities on the continent.