A China Southern Airlines cargo flight ready to take off from Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality to Dubai on June 23, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of China Southern

The view of Ezhou Huahu International Airport, China's first professional cargo airport in Central China's Hubei Province Photo: cnsphoto

Chinese air cargo transport has shown signs of further recovery over recent days, given the easing of epidemic in major cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, after the civil aviation industry suffered through its "darkest moment" in April this year.

As several express airlines from home and abroad are busy restoring new routes or resuming services, cargo operations across major airports are in fast recovery mode. Behind this renewed momentum, is rising demand across the world for Chinese products, and the continuous support from China for major global supply chains. 

Busier routes

DHL Express said on Monday that it will use A330 cargo flights to replace the original B737 route for the business from Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province to Hong Kong. 

The route will operate five times per week, and cargo volume is expected to increase by four times, and grow by 15,000 tons per year, the express company told the Global Times on Monday.

DHL Express is the first international express company to settle in Southwest China, and opened up a service from Chengdu to Hong Kong in 2011.

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp announced a new route between Beijing and Paris in June, and 10 FedEx Boeing 777 freighters fly in and out of Beijing, directly connecting China, Japan and Europe between Tuesday and Saturday. The company said the new flight route will strengthen the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises across regional and global markets.

The new flight route increases weekly capacity by almost 400 tons from North China to Europe. 

In addition, the cut off time for same day outbound shipments from Beijing to Europe will be extended, offering more time for customers to arrange their shipments, the company told the Global Times. 

In addition, Chinese airlines are also further mapping new territory, such as China Southern Airlines who announced on June 23 that its passenger to cargo flight had begun services from Chongqing to Dubai.

On June 28, a cargo flight from Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province to Moscow resumed service, followed by a cargo flight from Qingdao to Bournemouth in the UK the next day. 

On June 16, HNA Cargo launched a maiden flight from Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province to Los Angeles carrying 40 tons of goods, mainly valves and accessories produced in Northeast China, as well as clothing and light industrial products.

The domestic freight market has maintained a strong momentum throughout the epidemic. Other cities excluding Beijing and Shanghai maintained high growth during the first half of this year, reflecting a tight international supply chain, and strong demand for air cargo, Li Sheng, vice secretary general of aviation logistics committee under China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing told the Global Times in an interview.

Rising demand 

China's major airport cargo is also accelerating a nationwide recovery. 

Shanghai Pudong International Airport, the largest cargo hub for civil aviation in China, recovered rapidly in May with a cargo throughout reaching 198,400 tons, a month-on-month increase of 77.8 percent. 

The Pudong airport ranked first nationwide over the first five months of 2022 with a total of 1.2 million tons of cargo, followed by 828,600 tons of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, and 618,200 tons of Shenzhen Baoan International Airport.

FedEx said the increase in trade between China and the EU has placed a higher demand on the efficiency and speed of logistics. Leveraging its extensive global network and fleet of aircraft, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, express companies have been operating flights in and out of China, providing transportation services for Chinese business, as China serves as a strong engine driving the recovery for the global economy.

China's foreign trade rebounded in May as total imports and exports rose by 9.6 percent year on year to 3.45 trillion yuan ($515 billion) on top of April's 0.1-percent expansion.

Over the first five months of 2022, the country's foreign trade volume increased 8.3 percent year on year to 16.04 trillion yuan, outpacing the 7.9-percent-growth in the January-April period, official data showed, experts have claimed the growth adds to encouraging evidence of global reliance on Chinese products, highlighting the irreplaceable role of China in global supply chains.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said on June 13 that currently there are about 5,000 international cargo flights departing the country each week, serving 123 cities in 52 countries and regions around the world, effectively ensuring the stability of the national industrial and supply chain.

Cargo will likely continue to see growing demand as China is beefing up efforts to enhance a return to full economic capacity, Li added.