Xi'an air port sees big surge in cargo flights

In the first quarter of 2019, the number of inbound and outbound cargo flights at Xi'an air port in Xi'an, capital city of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, increased significantly.

The Shaanxi General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection inspected 363 inbound and outbound cargo flights, an increase of 418 percent compared with the same period last year.

Since the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic situation in March was effectively contained in China, the resumption of work and production at the air port restarted in an orderly manner, even as the overseas epidemic situation continued to worsen.

The demand for Chinese goods, including anti-epidemic materials, has risen substantially and officials said that had contributed to the major growth of Xi'an's cargo flights.

The air port cargo ingress and egress flights have maintained an average of nearly 40 flights per week and the current seven cargo routes link seven cities in five countries.

Officials said Shaanxi General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection has insisted on a 24-hour customs clearance service and opened dedicated fast track channels for anti-epidemic materials.

It also arranged on-duty civilian police to wait on the airport apron in advance -- to quickly verify the number of crew members, while organizing cargo aircraft clearance inspections and entry border inspection procedures -- which has improved the clearance speed of cargo flights.