Since the beginning of this year, Hua Hu Airport has launched six new international cargo routes connecting to major global freight hubs, including Athens in Greece, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, Brussels in Belgium, São Paulo in Brazil, and Brescia in Italy. Meanwhile, Tianhe Airport inaugurated its first international all-cargo route-"Wuhan–Bangkok"-on January 27, marking the launch of its first such route in nearly four years.
Journalists found that during the same period, Shenzhen launched five new international freight routes to cities including Liège and Luxembourg, with cross-border e-commerce cargo accounting for a significant share. Shanghai Pudong introduced a new route to Milan, focusing on high-value-added goods such as cold-chain and pharmaceutical products. Zhengzhou opened four new routes to Athens and Tashkent–Leipzig, primarily serving cross-border e-commerce shipments. Xi'an launched five new European routes to Paris, Rome, and Barcelona, targeting cross-border e-commerce and precision electronics. Guangzhou inaugurated a polar freight route to New York, significantly reducing trans-Pacific flight times. Urumqi added four new European routes to Brussels and Teesside, mainly transporting cross-border e-commerce goods and automotive parts. Chongqing launched four new routes to Liège, Budapest, and Tel Aviv, carrying both cross-border e-commerce and high-end manufacturing cargo. Among the 68 newly added international freight routes nationwide, Wuhan's metropolitan dual-hub airports jointly opened seven new routes, ranking first among all major hubs in China.
Behind the dense network of flight routes lies a simultaneous leap in Wuhan Metropolitan Area's air cargo support and logistics capacity. On May 13, the Huahu International Airport Smart Public International Cargo Terminal project passed industry acceptance, bringing the total number of international cargo terminals at Huahu Airport to nine, with an annual international cargo and mail handling capacity reaching 1.4 million tons. Additionally, Wuhan Optics Valley Aviation Super Logistics Center-the nation's first mesh-type transfer-based pre-arrival cargo terminal-has long achieved "one station serving two airports, with seamless connectivity between them," enabling it to simultaneously handle aviation security screening for both Huahu Airport and Tianhe Airport, improving enterprise customs clearance efficiency by 30%.
