Hefei Airport Launches First Cargo Service to Europe

Xinqiao Airport in Hefei, capital of East China’s Anhui province, launched a cargo service to Frankfurt, Germany on Tuesday, the first of its kind connecting the landlocked Chinese province with an European destination.

The airport has stepped up efforts to raise goods-handling capacity over the past few years. It built tarmac for cargo aircraft and an international express mail supervision center, kicked off the construction of the second phase of a cargo terminal, and sought to launch freight services, whether domestically or internationally.

A route to Los Angeles began operation in 2016, following the one that had been launched to South China’s Shenzhen a year before.

Xinqiao Airport handled 7.39 million passengers and 58,000 tonnes of cargo last year, representing a year--on-year increase of 11.8 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively. The latter was much higher than the national average of 5.0 percent.