On May 16th, the launching ceremony of Ningbo ⇋ Liege ⇋ Reykjavík International Freight Routes was held in Ningbo. Relevant leaders of Sinotrans, Ningbo Airport Group, CPC Haishu District Committee, Haishu District Government , as well as representatives of Air Atlanta Icelandic, Jieyi Cargo and Geely Auto attended the ceremony.
Before the ceremony, the international freight flight operated by Sinotrans took off from Ningbo Lishe Airport. This B747-400F full cargo aircraft carrying 112.6 tons of goods such as precision instruments, spare parts and clothing will transit in Liege, Belgium, and fly to Reykjavik Keflavik International Airport in Iceland, marking the official opening of the international freight route.
Made in China Going Global, and Nordic Fresh Food Imported
The scheduled freight route runs once every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Inbound flights will carry general cargo from Western and Eastern Europe, and fresh fish such as salmon will also be transported after Iceland's fishing ban. Outbound flights will carry e-commerce packages, small commodities, spare parts, etc. from Ningbo, Hangzhou, Jinhua, Yiwu, Jiaxing, and other places.
Due to this route, the daily export cross-border e-commerce cargo volume of Ningbo Airport is expected to increase by about twice compared to the first Quarter. It is expected to bring nearly 10000 tons of cargo to Ningbo Airport throughout the year, further improving the coverage, accessibility, and radiation of Ningbo freight route network, and meeting bilateral freight logistics needs in a better way. Fresh food from northern Europe will be delivered to Chinese dishes, and high-quality made-in-China from Yangtze River Delta region will be transported "to go global".
Freedoms of the Air(Fifth Freedom) connects three countries, making record for several Firsts
Launching Ningbo ⇋ Liege ⇋ Reykjavík International Freight Routes is an important measure for Sinotrans to promote the implementation of the strategic cooperation agreement between China Merchants Group and the government of Zhejiang Province. And it is one of the important practice for Sinotrans to further expand the construction of the air transport supply chain system on the basis of continuous and stable promotion of cooperation with Zhejiang Province in the maritime transport supply chain system. This route has created three “firsts” in Ningbo. It is the "first" scheduled freight route to Europe, the "first" fifth authorized freight route to Europe, and the "largest" single export cargo loading volume in the history of Lishe Airport.
This route effectively connects the freight markets between China, Belgium, and Iceland through the Fifth Freedom, providing a broader platform for deepening economic and trade cooperation among the three markets. It also has important promoting significance for Ningbo to build an international air freight hub facing East China, radiating across the country, and connecting the world. It will further assist Ningbo Airport in building a logistics hub in Yangtze River Delta region, and promote the development of airport economy in Zhejiang Province at large.
As a traditional manufacturing base, the Yangtze River Delta, where Ningbo locates, has developed rapidly in the field of aviation logistics industry in recent years. The transportation demand of communication electronics, semiconductors and cross-border e-commerce has increased year by year. Sinotrans has opened up relevant international air cargo route to meet the export demand of Chinese manufacturers. The opening of this new route will further enhance the construction level of Sinotrans' air transport resources and regional market advantages. With the opening of Ningbo⇋New York scheduled freight route at the end of this month, Sinotrans will regard Ningbo as the spot of deepening overseas logistics network and key hub building, further improving the resilience and stability of the global supply chain.
In the future, Sinotrans will continue to beef up resource investment in the construction of air transport channel, improve the layout of the airline network, strengthen the coordination of resources and business on sea, land and air transport, actively meet customer needs, provide market with full link services of international air cargo, and continue to make more contributions to the construction of corridors linking Europe and even the world.
Logistics tips: The Freedoms of the Air(Fifth Freedom) is the right of transportation in a third country. It refers to the right of a national airline while operating a certain international flight to stop and carry passengers and goods in a third country .It is praised by the industry as "the most abundant and economically significant” air right.
