Changsha opens first regular cargo flight to North America

The first regular air freight service linking Changsha, Hunan province, with North America was launched on July 21, as a Boeing 747 cargo plane carrying 100 tons of Canadian lobsters landed at the Changsha Huanghua International Airport.

The new KYE4853 and KYE4854, both with a cargo capacity of 100 tons, will fly from Changsha to Chicago, US and Halifax, Canada. There will be three charter flights between Changsha and the two cities every week, importing high quality seafood and exporting clothing, electronics, machinery equipment, and cross-border e-commerce cargo, of which over 90 percent are from Hunan province.

According to Yu Zhengdong, vice-president of the flight operator Fishforever Group, direct cargo charter flights can be up to 50 percent faster than traditional transportation, and the survival rate of the lobsters can be increased to more than 98 percent. Moreover, the prices of the company’s seafood products will drop about five to 10 percent due to national policy support.

Wang Guoliang, secretary of the Party Work Committee of the Changsha Huanghua Integrated Free Trade Zone (FTZ), said that the cargo flight operated by Fishforever Group and its cooperation with the Huanghua integrated FTZ will make Changsha a global high-end seafood distribution center.

The new Changsha-North America regular cargo flight, the previously introduced Changsha-Ho Chi Minh cargo flight, and the ASEAN cross-border bonded truck project will form a multi-directional and three-dimensional transportation system to develop foreign trade in Changsha.