Hub Airways (Hong Kong International) parent Janco Holdings has announced it would wet-lease an A300-600(F) from Uzbekistan's Silk Road Cargo Business (Tashkent International) to support the launch of dedicated cargo flights, Cargo Facts has reported.

The contract is due to commence in the fourth quarter of 2018. Janco Holdings already said it was looking forward to adding a second aircraft for Hub Airways in 2019.

The maiden Airbus freighter, VQ-BNW (msn 733) has been undergoing maintenance at Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen since August 25, 2018, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. Until December 2017, it had operated Istanbul-Tashkent International services for Silk Road Cargo. It is the only aircraft in the Uzbek carrier's fleet.

The carrier will focus on services between mainland China and Southeast Asia. It has already contracted Thai Lion Air (SL, Bangkok Don Mueang) as a GSA and a partner in Thailand and will use the bellyhold capacity of the Thai LCC's aircraft. The exact scale of the cooperation will depend on the routes Hub Airways will operate itself.

Janco Holdings has so far not run its own airline subsidiary, but it secured long-term charter capacity previously, including a B737-300(F) from SF Airlines (O3, Shenzhen) for recent Nanning-Dhaka operations.