Cargo throughput of central China airport tops 700,000 tonnes

ZHENGZHOU, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Xinzheng International Airport in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, saw its annual cargo throughput exceed 700,000 tonnes for the first time at the turn of the year.

With the record, the airport in the provincial capital now ranks sixth among more than 230 airports in China, and is included among the world's top 40 cargo airports for the second consecutive year.

A Russian air freighter of AirBridgeCargo Airlines, fully loaded with clothes and consumer goods, left Zhengzhou for Moscow Thursday, witnessing the record setting moment. The air freight service has guaranteed medical supplies and logistics transport of living necessities and food amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

AirBridgeCargo Airlines became the first foreign airline to set foot in Xinzheng International Airport in September 2010, opening the Zhengzhou-Moscow air cargo service. The company's annual freight volume exceeded 50,000 tonnes at the airport in Zhengzhou for the first time this year, up 75 percent year on year.

In December, five countries including Russia, Hungary, Iran, Romania and Ukraine have added all-cargo flight services to Xinzheng International Airport.

Liu Jianmin, general manager of Henan Province Airport Group, said the company is committed to the construction of an "Air Silk Road" by developing the airport into an international air cargo hub.