AN air freight service between Manchester Airport and Hong Kong will operate five times a week instead of three from next month.

Dragonair -- the operating name for Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd -- started in July last year, providing exporters with a Dubai connection and onward links from Hong Kong to 27 Far East destinations.

The improvements will provide greater capacity and improved freighter connections to Shanghai in China and Osaka in Japan.

The service can handle around 2,000 tonnes of freight per month and is a regular carrier of items such as clothing, toys, computer components and electrical goods.

Also, racehorses can be transported in purpose-built stalls called "airstables" which are loaded inside the aircraft.

A recent export from Manchester involved 21 ponies destined for the royal stables in Dubai.

They were brought by road from Newmarket and accompanied and tended throughout the flight by five grooms.

Mr Bob Wetherill, Dragonair's regional manager -- Cargo Europe, said: "This has proved to be a successful service out of Manchester with good loadings on the route every month.

"Manchester is a good base for this operation with nearly two-thirds of the UK's manufacturing industry just two hours away."

He added: "We look forward to continued success and development of this key route with its connections to our many Chinese destinations, particularly now the market has been broadened by events like China's entry to the World Trade Organisation."

The new schedule is planned for Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.