Staff members load the cargo onto an airplane at the Ezhou Huahu Airport in Ezhou, central China's Hubei Province, May 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)
BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's air cargo industry witnessed significant growth in the first half of this year (H1).
Driven by increasing demand for air logistics, the country saw its network of air cargo routes become denser.
From January to June, a total of 90 new air freight routes were launched nationwide, including over 70 international routes, according to data from the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP).
Latest statistics of CFLP show that as of June 30, 2024, China has launched 16 domestic air freight routes and 74 international ones, resulting in an improved layout of the air freight transportation. Among the international routes, 39 are intra-Asia routes, accounting for more than half of the total.
Both domestic and international air cargo markets have continued to expand since the beginning of this year. China's air freight turnover in H1 totaled 70.3 billion tonne-kilometers, with a year-on-year increase of 32.2 percent, among which the domestic air freight turnover registered 47.04 billion tonne-kilometers, up 16 percent from the previous year, while the international turnover recorded a dramatic increase of 84.1 percent, reaching 23.26 billion ton-kilometers.
Meanwhile, the supporting airport logistics business has maintained a good momentum, as the four airport clusters in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Chengdu-Chongqing have all harvested double-digit growth rates in cargo throughput year on year.
-- China's air freight hit a new high in H1 this year
China's air cargo transportation has maintained rapid growth since the beginning of 2024.
According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), in the first half of this year, China's aviation industry has achieved a total cargo and postal transportation volume of 4.174 million tons, with a year-on-year increase of 27.4 percent, among which the international cargo and postal transportation volume reached 1.651 million tons, up 34.3 percent year on year. Moreover, the international transportation volume accounted for 39.6 percent of the total, two percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year.
The bellyhold capacity of international passenger flights has been further bolstered. In the first six months, China operated international flights to 154 overseas depots in 71 countries, registering 2.9-fold rise from the previous year. In addition, the number of regular freight flights stood at 26,700, with a year-on-year increase of six percent, connecting China and 48 overseas depots in 42 countries on a regular basis.
To meet the demands for timely and flexible logistics of cross-border e-commerce and the "new three" (electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products), the number of irregular international cargo flights has also risen. In the first half of this year, China has operated 3,300 international chartered freight flights, with a year-on-year increase of 9 percent and an increase of 8.5 times over the same period of 2019.
-- Air logistics brings domestic and international markets closer
The increasing number of international air freight routes has facilitated the flow of goods between domestic and international markets. With the help of air logistics, fresh salmon can now be transported from its origin to groceries in China within 30 hours.
Meanwhile, air logistics plays a significant role in the export of fresh produce. Since this year, Changzhou International Airport has adopted diverse means of transportation such as bellyhold carriage of international passenger flights, "air-air transit" from domestic to international flights, and international transit flights, to deliver domestic fresh produce to the international market.
Experts noted that the time-efficient and flexible air logistics can meet the market demand for fresh produce and provide consumers with more food options.
-- Improved policies boost high-quality development of air cargo sector
Cross-border e-commerce has emerged as a major source of the air cargo industry in China in the first half of 2024. The CAAC stated that it will further optimize relevant policies and measures to boost the high-quality development of the air cargo sector and enhance China's competitiveness and influence in the global air logistics industry.
Spurred by the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the French market has shown a strong demand for made-in-China products through cross-border e-commerce. Statistics show that since June this year, the volume of goods carried from south China's Guangzhou international freight depot of China Southern Airlines to Paris had gained a considerable increase of over 65 percent compared to the previous year.
The boom of cross-border e-commerce lays a solid foundation for the growing demand for air logistics.
A CAAC official noted that the CAAC is committed to promoting the high-quality development of the air cargo sector by advancing the construction of aviation pivots, improving standards, increasing supply, and optimizing administrative policies on air cargo routes and flights. (Edited by Yang Linlin with Xinhua Silk Road, linlinyanglyn@163.com)
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