China Eastern transports ancient Egyptian relics

A chartered flight carrying 50 Egyptian national treasures took off from Shanghai bound for Egypt on Thursday, marking the first cultural relics chartered flight to be conducted by China Eastern Air Holding.

Known as the charter flight of the pharaohs, the service was operated by Eastern Air Logistics Co, the freight unit of the parent company, China Eastern Air Holding.

Weighing a combined 17.6 metric tons, the 50 Egyptian treasures had been on display at Shanghai Museum's On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt, which concluded on Aug 17.

As the world's largest exhibition of ancient Egyptian relics, the event attracted more than 2.77 million visitors and generated in excess of 30 billion online views.

To ensure the safe transportation of the relics, China Eastern arranged the best route, assigned a professional team, and set up a dedicated ground service team that provided comprehensive logistics support throughout the entire process.

The journey from Shanghai to Cairo was on an all-cargo aircraft, laying an important foundation for transporting cultural relics between Asia and Africa.

"China Eastern Airlines is undoubtedly the best choice for transporting Egyptian cultural relics back to Egypt," said Chu Xiaobo, director of the Shanghai Museum. "China Eastern has shown strong commitment and professionalism in transporting cultural relics safely and efficiently. We trust the airline's reliability and look forward to further cooperation."