Asia's first professional cargo hub airport put into operation in Central China

SF Express, China's leading logistics service provider, plays a crucial role at the Ezhou airport, much like how FedEx Express handles the majority of cargo at the Memphis International Airport.

SF Express holds a 46 percent stake in Hubei International Logistics Airport Co., Ltd., the operator of Ezhou Huahu Airport. The logistics service provider has independently built a freight transport transit center, a cargo sorting center and an aviation base at the new airport. SF Express also plans to process the majority of its packages through the new airport in the future.

"As a cargo hub, Ezhou Huazhu Airport will help SF Express to form a new comprehensive logistics network," said Pan Le, director of the airport's IT department.

"No matter where the destination is, all SF Airlines cargoes can be transferred and sorted in Ezhou before being flown to other cities in China," Pan said, adding that such a transportation network will enable SF Express freight planes to operate at full capacity, hence improving transportation efficiency.

The landlocked city of Ezhou is hundreds of kilometers away from any seaports. But with the new airport, goods from Ezhou can reach anywhere in China overnight and overseas destinations in two days.

"The airport will promote the opening up of the central Chinese region and the whole country," said Yin Junwu, director of Ezhou Airport Economic Zone Management Committee, adding that airline and shipping companies from the United States, Germany, France and Russia have already reached out to forge cooperation with the airport.

Besides cargo flights, the airport also provides passenger flight services for eastern Hubei. Seven passenger routes linking Ezhou with nine destinations, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Kunming, have started operation.

The airport has opened two cargo routes to Shenzhen and Shanghai, and is scheduled to add international routes connecting with Osaka in Japan and Frankfurt in Germany within this year.

The airport is expected to open around 10 international cargo routes and 50 domestic routes by 2025, with the cargo and mail throughput reaching 2.45 million tonnes.