China Airlines has extended its 19-year working relationship with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in North America with a new cargo handling contract at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

The new contract takes to five the number of locations in the US where WFS provides services for the airline. WFS won its first contract with China Airlines in North America in 1998 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, where it continues to handle some 47 million kilos of cargo a year for the airline.

In addition to providing further cargo handling services in Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston, WFS also manages passenger and ramp operations for China Airlines in Honolulu.

Under the terms of this latest agreement, WFS will handle up to seven direct flights a week connecting Chicago with Taipei, and an estimated 56 million kilos per year. Overall, WFS will now handle more than 130 million kilos of cargo a year for China Airlines in North America.

WFS senior vice president for sales and business development in North America, Ray Jetha says: “China Airlines is one of our biggest customers in the U.S. and over nearly two decades of working together we have gained a strong understanding of the airline’s service requirements.

“We have demonstrated our ability to deliver the quality and reliability expected and sincerely appreciate the airline’s continued confidence in WFS. We look forward to a growing partnership based on the mutual respect and trust between our organizations.”

WFS, which strengthened its presence in North America with the acquisition of Consolidated Aviation Services (CAS) a year ago, now operates 54 stations across North America with an employee base of 8,000 people serving 63 airline customers.