The world's largest civilian cargo plane takes off from Shuangliu to Brussels within 14 hours
After 10 p.m. on May 9, an all-cargo plane with flight number KF886 took off from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, loaded with more than 130 tons of cargo, and will arrive at Brussels Airport in Belgium 14 hours later.
The Boeing 747-8F flight flying this route is currently the largest civilian freighter in the world. Compared with the Boeing 747-400 freighter, the payload (the maximum load that the aircraft can carry during a mission) has increased by 30%. The flight is scheduled for May. 3 classes per week, and will gradually increase to 6 classes per week in the future.
Starting from Chengdu Shuangliu, the route takes Brussels, Belgium as the cargo hub gateway, connecting the European continent, further meeting the air logistics needs of China-Europe cross-border e-commerce, and serving the construction of Chengdu as an international gateway hub city.
"In the first quarter of this year, the air cargo and mail throughput in the international area of Shuangliu Airport showed a significant growth trend." The relevant person in charge of Sichuan Airport Group said that due to the impact of the global epidemic, the gap in international air cargo capacity was rapidly exposed, and air logistics showed its important role. Strategic role and great potential.
Shuangliu seizes the development opportunity of aviation logistics.
At present, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport operates 15 international scheduled cargo routes, and has initially established an air cargo route network connecting important economies and regions in the world.
In addition, Hongyuan Airport is actively promoting the preparations for the international cargo route from Chengdu to Chicago, which is planned to be opened in June, which will further encrypt the Chengdu international air cargo network.
Connecting to the European "Gateway"
Helping the development of China-EU cross-border trade business
Why choose Brussels, Belgium?
Belgium is located in the center of Europe, adjacent to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and France, with convenient logistics conditions.
Brussels is an important strategic gateway of the China-Belgium "Air Silk Road". Taking this as a fulcrum, it will surely strengthen the cross-border trade business between China and Europe.
It is worth noting that the aircraft for this route is owned by Hongyuan Airport, put into operation at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, and entrusted to Air Belgium to fly.
Founded in 1923, Air Belgium is one of the most famous airlines in Europe.
In addition, Hongyuan Holding Group has a self-operated first-class cargo terminal in Brussels, Belgium. The cargo terminal covers an area of about 10,000 square meters. The designed throughput can accommodate 7 inbound and outbound flights per week, and the operating cargo is about 1,400 tons per week.
At the Brussels Cargo Terminal, cargo flights from China bring a large amount of Chinese goods to Belgium.
The more than 130 tons of goods on the Chengdu-Brussels international freight route opened this time include machinery and equipment, electronic products, e-commerce small packages, etc., some of which are local products in Chengdu.
In addition to the Chengdu-Brussels route, Hongyuan Airport is also actively promoting the preparations for the Chengdu-Chicago international cargo route, which is planned to be opened in June to continuously enrich the route network, expand the air cargo business layout, and achieve full coverage of the Asia-Europe air cargo network. .
The relevant person in charge of Hongyuan Holding Group said that in general, the US line transportation products are mainly electronic products and e-commerce goods, and the European line will have more categories. In addition to electronic products and e-commerce goods, there will also be service trade goods and goods. Machine accessories, etc.
Freight "Skynet" Encryption
Chengdu International Scheduled Freight Routes Has Reached 15
Actually, these are not two new cargo routes.
As early as November 2019, Sichuan Airlines launched an all-cargo route from Chengdu to Brussels.
At that time, Sichuan Airlines decided to use Brussels Airport in Belgium as the hub gateway for cargo aircraft to Europe, leveraging the European mainland market.
Prior to this, the international regular cargo route from Chengdu to Chicago had been launched in October 2018, operated by Boeing 747-400F all-cargo aircraft, filling the gap in the all-cargo route from Chengdu to North America.
This time, the addition of "new partners" means the encryption of Chengdu's international cargo route network.
According to the data provided by the Chengdu Shuangliu Aviation Economic Zone Management Committee, there are currently 15 international scheduled cargo routes operated by Shuangliu International Airport.
Among them, 2021 will usher in a "peak period", and the number of new international freight routes will hit a record high.
This year, Shuangliu successfully introduced major cargo platform projects such as SF Express West Air Cargo Hub and Sifang International Transit Center, and opened 5 international cargo routes from Chengdu to London, Amsterdam, Dhaka and Bangalore.
Among the 15 routes, 1 North American route is from Chengdu to Chicago; 6 European routes are from Chengdu to Moscow, Frankfurt, Brussels, Amsterdam, London and Madrid; 8 Asian routes are from Chengdu to Hong Kong, Incheon, Delhi, Chennai, Osaka, Tokyo, Dhaka, Bangalore.
"Premium" air capacity
Intercontinental air cargo arrives in the hinterland of Europe
Duan Xiaotao, chairman of Sichuan Hongyuan, believes that under the influence of the epidemic, high-quality transport capacity is particularly in short supply.
This route is operated by Boeing 747-8F aircraft, which is currently the largest all-cargo aircraft with a full load of about 135 tons of cargo. At the same time, due to the long flight mileage, it can greatly improve the freight efficiency, whether it is used for European routes or The American routes are all very good aircraft.
It is worth noting that intercontinental flights have high requirements for aircraft.
According to data released by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2020, there are only 173 all-cargo aircraft in my country, and the "high-quality" capacity that can fly intercontinental routes is even more difficult to find.
Duan Xiaotao said that the opening of the international freight route between Hongyuan Airport and Brussels, can meet the needs of cross-border e-commerce and trade enterprises in the southwest region in terms of freight logistics, provide intercontinental air freight capacity support for enterprises in the southwest region, and help achieve a smooth dual The new development pattern of the cycle.
In addition, after the goods arrive in Belgium, they will be distributed throughout Europe by truck flights or connecting flights, and delivered to customers quickly.
Strive for new opening and encryption this year
5 international cargo routes
The state strongly supports the improvement of air cargo capacity.
On March 24, 2020, the State Council held an executive meeting to make policy arrangements for international air cargo during the epidemic, and put forward a series of key measures such as providing policy support for international cargo routes, improving the air cargo hub network, and improving the air cargo standard system. .
At the same time, in February 2022, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the "14th Five-Year Plan" Aviation Logistics Development Special Plan, which is the first time China Civil Aviation has included aviation logistics in its industry development plan.
From the perspective of international freight, in 2021, the cargo and mail throughput of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport will reach 628,000 tons.
It is reported that Chengdu Shuangliu Airport Customs fully supports the construction of the Shuangliu Port platform, supports the encryption of cargo aircraft routes at Shuangliu Port, attracts foreign airlines to settle in, opens a green channel for airlines, simplifies the filing procedures, and optimizes the customs clearance process. The supervision service guarantee will further consolidate the bridgehead position of the European route.
In the next step, Shuangliu will closely focus on the goal of "high-level construction of Tianfu Airport and high-quality development of Shuangliu Airport", strengthen cooperation with Sichuan Airport Group, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of Shuangliu Airport to a "passenger and cargo hub airport", and help Chengdu pan-European Pan-Asia international gateway hub construction.
In terms of the layout of international cargo routes, it will closely follow the supply chain of the leading industries in Chengdu and Chongqing, strengthen cooperation with airlines such as SF Express, Sichuan Airlines, Air China Cargo and other air cargo market players such as Hongyuan and Phoenix, and arrange the international all-cargo aircraft route network in an orderly manner. In 2022, more than 5 new international cargo routes will be opened or expanded, and the construction of more than 20 international cargo routes covering global hub cities will be accelerated to build an international air cargo hub linking the world, pan-European and pan-Asia.