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

China's civil aviation regulator said air cargo business has recovered to normalcy, and international cargo flights have witnessed positive growth. Liang Nan, an official from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), made the remarks at a press conference on Thursday.

Affected by the domestic epidemic, especially in Shanghai, air cargo transportation volume in the first half of the year showed a V-shaped trend and has basically returned to normal, Liang said.  

Liang said that the transportation volume continued to decline month-on-month since March, with the volume in April dropping to 420,000 tons, down both month-on-month and year-on-year. 

However, cargo transport returned to positive growth in May month-on-month, and in July, the aviation industry carried 539,000 tons of cargo, an increase of 28.3 percent over April.

China's civil aviation industry operated 163,000 cargo flights in the first seven months of this year, including those "passenger-to-cargo" aircraft. Out of the total, there were 117,000 international cargo flights, with a year-on-year increase of 1.8 percent, data from the CAAC showed. 

"The airlines' ability to supply industry chains is increasing," Liang said. 

The Ezhou Huahu Airport, China's first professional cargo hub airport located in Central China's Hubei Province, was put into operation in July. 

It is expected to improve the transport efficiency of air freight. Located in the city of Ezhou, it is also the first professional cargo hub airport in Asia and the fourth of its kind in the world.

Earlier in August, Shenzhen airport opened a cargo route to Bangalore in India, the fifth cargo flight for the airport, China Media Group reported on August 5. This means the international cargo network has been extended to 34 cities, with weekly cargo flights of more than 370.

As of the end of July, the overseas cargo throughput of Shenzhen airport reached 443,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 21.6 percent, according to news outlet 21jingji.com.

DHL Express said on August 12 that it opened a cargo route from Qingdao to Incheon in South Korea, flying twice per week. It could raise this to six times per week, the company told the Global Times. 

Airlines in Asia Pacific region saw their air cargo volume decrease by 2.1 percent in June 2022 compared with the same month in 2021. This was a significant improvement over the 6.6 percent decline registered in May, according to data from the International Air Transport Association.