SZ opens 3 intl. cargo routes in a week

Staffers load cargos to a plane at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. Duchuang

An international cargo route between Shenzhen and Amsterdam operated by China Cargo Airlines was put into operation yesterday.

This is the second international route in a week following the Shenzhen-Los Angeles route that was put into operation Saturday.

Today, China Cargo Airlines will open a route from Shenzhen to Jakarta, bringing the number of international cargo routes from Shenzhen to 25.

The Shenzhen-Los Angeles route via Hangzhou is operated by SF Express. The route, launched Saturday, is the first cargo route from Shenzhen to North America. The air network of Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the U.S., covers 88 percent of the areas in North America within its four-hour radius.

The route to Amsterdam, which was put into operation by China Cargo Airlines yesterday, operates three times a week and deploys a Boeing 777F that can carry 95 tons of cargo in one flight.

So far this year, Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport has opened eight cargo-specific routes, the most in one year since the opening of Terminal 3 in 2013.

With the opening of the routes, the international cargo and package throughput at the airport has realized a more than 30 percent increase year on year for each month of the past six months.

Between January and October, the cargo and parcel throughput of the airport reached 1.12 million tons, up by 7.8 percent year on year, ranking first in growth rates among Chinese airports whose throughput is more than 1 million tons, the airport source said.

Cross-border e-commerce has also continued to increase over the past three months since the airport engaged in bonded business for imported products by online buyers.

A total of 130,000 packages were dispatched in October, and the packages handled by the airport bonded area increased by 95 percent compared to September.

The airport recently received CEIV Pharma program certification created by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), becoming the third mainland airport receiving the certification.