Joint forces: Senior executives of the six postal administrations officiate at the launch ceremony for the new service.

Six of the world's leading postal administrations - Australia Post, China Post, Hongkong Post, Japan Post, Korea Post and the US Postal Service - have aligned to provide an enhanced Asia-Pacific express service.

Hong Kong Postmaster General Allan Chiang today said the combined network will bring unrivalled capacity and 'on-the-ground expertise'.

"Together, we have more than 261 million delivery points throughout the entire network, as well as 1.6 million employees and 142,000 retail locations," he said.

"This kind of presence is unmatched by any delivery company today and gives us a unique platform for providing extensive express service coverage for our customers."

Superior delivery

The linking provides customers with a superior, date-certain delivery service.

A database of localities and postcodes that allow customers to access delivery information across 8 billion postcode combinations has been set up. Customers can also track shipments online, all the way from posting to delivery.

Delivery times for express courier services range from overnight between selected localities in Asia, two to three days for other Asian localities and Australia, three days from Austral-Asia to the US and five days from the US to Austral-Asia upon acceptance.

Customers can also access specific delivery information by contacting their local post office.