An all-cargo plane carrying 95 tons of cargo in 630 cubic meters took off at 11 a.m. on December 10 from the Changsha Huanghua International Airport. It will arrive in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. This is the airport’s first full-cargo flight launched to Eastern Europe.

The new route was operated by Transaviaexport Airlines using a Boeing 747-300 aircraft, capable of bearing a maximum load of 106 tons. A total of 15 round-trip flights were scheduled between December this year and January next year.

This batch of goods mainly included medical supplies for epidemic prevention, clothing, auto parts, sensors, molds and various cross-border e-commerce products.

The opening of the route, as a new “Air Silk Road”, will provide transport channels for anti-epidemic materials and e-commerce trade in Serbia and Eastern Europe. It will also facilitate Hunan to improve its air cargo distribution capacity, lead to the development of the local cross-border e-commerce industry, and establish itself as a new highland for opening-up in inland China.

Changsha has opened 6 new regular cargo routes to Hong Kong, Liege, Moscow, Los Angeles, New York and Osaka this year, bringing the total number to 9. Eight routes are now in operation, with a flight operation rate of more than 90%. The route from Changsha to Ho Chi Minh/Dacca, the seafood export destinations, had been suspended due to the epidemic. This year, the city has resumed an air route for e-commerce cargo to Manila and opened two irregular cargo routes to Los Angeles and Chennai.

The international and regional cargo throughput at the Changsha Huanghua International Airport increased by 42.6% year on year to 65,800 tons in the first 11 months of this year.

Source: en.changsha.gov.cn