Air cargo volume sets new record in Q1

Translator and Editor: Tan Maolin
Correspondent: Wang Tingting

Yichang Sanxia International Airport set a new record for cargo and airmail in the first quarter, handling 3,903 tons. This is a 672 percent increase from 2023 and nearly 300 percent higher than Q1 2019 before COVID.

The airport also achieved new records for single-day and monthly cargo and mail throughput in the quarter, reaching 91.65 tons and 1,665.73 tons respectively.

Cargo at the airport includes shipments on all-cargo flights and cargo carried on passenger planes. In Q1, the airport completed 154 all-cargo flights, transporting 2,813 tons of cargo and mail. Outbound cargo included items like yeast, fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, ceramics, garments, and flower seedlings, which were sent to Zhengzhou City and Taiyuan City. Inbound cargo included foodstuffs, chemical products, and automobile parts from Zhengzhou, as well as seafood, express cargo, and electronics from Shenzhen.

Yichang Sanxia International Airport opened its T2 terminal on June 23, 2022. The expansion, along with the renovation of the rest of the airport, allowed for regular all-cargo flights and marked an important step towards becoming an air cargo hub. The airport not only handles local goods from Yichang but also attracts goods from neighboring cities for air distribution, enhancing Yichang's overall impact.

The airport's logistics company has implemented measures to reduce cargo transit time, attracting agents from cities like Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Chengdu, and Nanning to carry out "air-to-air transit" business in Yichang. In the first quarter of this year, the airport completed 535.8 tons of transshipment cargo and mail.