Tianjin Airlines. Photo: IC

Tianjin Airlines, which is under the HNA Group, said it operated 116 charter flights to transport medical supplies and staff in the past nine months, carrying a total of 1,489 medical workers to Central China's Hubei Province. 

Cumulative shipments of protective clothing, masks, gloves and disinfection supplies used to support Hubei exceeded 75 tons, and the total cost exceeded 11 million yuan ($1.66 million), the company said in a note sent to the Global Times on Monday. 

The airline said through November 4, it had transported 1,444 tons of epidemic prevention materials on 74 international cargo flights to countries including the UK, Germany, France, Russia, Australia, Spain and Romania.

Chinese carriers have done a great job in fighting against COVID-19, and China's air cargo capacity has improved thanks to a series of targeted measures, especially those ensuring international freight transport, according to the civil aviation authorities.

In June, China maintained regular cargo flights to 105 overseas destinations in 45 countries and regions, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Chinese and foreign airliners carried 2,390 scheduled cargo flights every week in June. The figure represented a 135.7-percent increase compared with the number of flights before the COVID-19 pandemic and a 203.3-percent increase from mid-February.