DHL’s new U.S.-Australia flight is a twice-weekly service. The connection boosts DHL capacity and service between the Americas and Oceania.

The international express services provider says the new direct flight will assure customers in the U.S. and throughout the Americas of even faster shipping to Australia. The new flight improves transit times into the major Australian metropolitan areas of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane by at least one day, said DHL. Now, shipments picked up on Friday in the U.S will be delivered by Monday in all of Australia’s major cities.

“Providing capacity and capability ahead of the curve for DHL customers is fundamental to our global aviation strategy,” said Stephen Fenwick, CEO for DHL Express Americas. “This new, twice-weekly flight offers a significant transit time improvement for our customers in North America and Oceania – supporting their growth along vital intercontinental trade lanes.”

The twice weekly flight operates between the DHL Americas hub in Cincinnati (CVG) and Australian cities Sydney and Melbourne, with time-definite delivery services available to Australia metro areas by 9:00 am and 12:00 noon, along with end-of-day service.

The flight returns to Cincinnati via Hong Kong, further expanding capacity for customers shipping from Asia to the Americas. “With the addition of the new Australia flight to our recently launched around-the-world flight connecting Hong Kong to Los Angeles, Leipzig and back, our focus on providing industry leading service is clear,” said Mike Parra, executive vice president and director of operations for DHL Express Americas.

DHL introduced an environmentally-friendly B747-400 on this new route, adding 110 tons of carrying capacity to help accommodate a projected 20 percent volume increase in 2012 between the U.S. and Canada to Australia. Currently, Australia is one of the largest export markets for DHL Express out of the U.S.

The aircraft is operated by Polar Air Cargo Worldwide.