On November 2nd, a full cargo aircraft arriving from Derby East Midlands Airport in the UK landed smoothly at Ezhou Huanhu International Airport, marking the official opening of the "Ezhou - Derby East Midlands" cargo route. This route is the first direct cargo route to the UK from Ezhou Huanhu Airport, and it is also the 26th cargo route (20 international, 4 domestic, and 2 low-altitude) newly opened by Ezhou Huanhu Airport this year, following the "Ezhou - Bogota, Colombia" route.  
                    

         The route is operated with B747-400 full freighters, with four flights per week, and is expected to provide over 30,000 tons of air cargo capacity for Ezhou Huahu Airport annually. The outbound cargo mainly consists of e-commerce FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), electronic products and components, electromechanical equipment, and automotive parts, while the inbound cargo mainly consists of electronic products, automotive parts, and fashion FMCG (including clothing, shoes, hats, and cosmetics) from the UK. 
        
                

          The UK is China's third largest trading partner, third largest investment destination, and third largest source of foreign investment in Europe, while China is the UK's largest trading partner in Asia. As the second largest cargo airport in the UK, East Midlands Airport has become an important logistics hub in the north-central region of England, thanks to its obvious geographical advantages, well-established logistics network, and advanced facilities and equipment. The opening of the "Ezhou-East Midlands" route will further expand the air corridor for economic and trade between China and the UK, providing efficient logistics support for Chinese manufacturing to explore the European market.

              

          Since the beginning of this year, Ezhou Huahu Airport has continued to expand its cargo route network. As of now, Ezhou Huahu Airport has opened a total of 111 cargo routes, including 59 domestic cargo routes, 2 low-altitude cargo routes, and 50 international cargo routes. It has introduced 18 international cargo airlines such as ALS of Belgium and Air Charter Services of Malta to continuously increase their capacity. At the same time, Ezhou Huahu Airport is also constantly expanding the connotation of the "E-to-Global" air-to-air transfer service brand. It has successively opened 13 fifth-freedom cargo routes such as "Ezhou-Incheon-Miami" and "Ezhou-New York-Halifax". The hub-and-spoke cargo route network centered on Ezhou Huahu Airport has been established, and the domestic and international dual-circulation logistics channels are accelerating.

             

           From January to September this year, the cargo flight volume of Ezhou Huahu Airport ranked fourth in the country, second only to Hong Kong Airport, Shanghai Pudong Airport, and Shenzhen Bao'an Airport. The airport's hub cargo volume reached 1.083 million tons, of which the international cargo and mail throughput was 367,000 tons, marking a year-on-year increase of 58.2% and 137% respectively. The total import and export value reached 114.68 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 115.8%. Its trading partners covered 174 countries and regions worldwide, driving the foreign trade growth of Hubei Province by 6.1 percentage points.