A brand new Airbus A320NEO aircraft, leased by the Air Travel Co., Ltd., took off from Toulouse, France and landed at the Changsha Huanghua International Airport at 7:48 am on July 2, after a long journey for 11 hours and 40 minutes. The airplane then has its customs clearance done at the Changsha Huanghua Airport Customs. Luo Liang, chief of general service section of the Changsha Huanghua Airport Customs, said it was the first time that a new foreign airplane directly entered and completed customs entry process in Changsha. It set an example for Hunan enterprises to purchase, or lease, imported large-scale equipment through a third party.

Air Travel leased the Airbus aircraft from an intermediary enterprise at the Tianjin Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone. It will be Air Travel’s 15th operating aircraft. Dou Haidong, vice president of Air Travel Maintenance Department, said that the plane was supposed to go through customs formalities at an airport in Tianjin before flying to Changsha. Based on the innovation policies of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the relevant policies of the General Administration of Customs, Changsha and Tianjin customs signed an “acting customs supervision and acceptance check” agreement to simplify entry process. According to the agreement, this new plane was allowed to directly enter Changsha and complete customs clearance locally. Dou Haidong added that the move helped reduce the in-transit cost of the new aircraft by more than 100,000 yuan, and would enable it to be put into operation ahead of schedule.

Air Travel settled in Changsha Airport Economic Demonstration Zone on July 2, 2020, with Changsha Huanghua Airport as its main operating base. Currently the company has 37 air routes in operation, reaching 33 domestic cities. The company independently operated main support services during the whole delivery process, including flying the plane from Toulouse, France to Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan, and then to Changsha. This gained valuable experience for the company’s future international operations.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn