A celebrative banner marking the opening of the Ezhou-Chicago all-cargo air route. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

On May 4, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft arrived at Ezhou Huahu Airport to load more cargo before heading to its final destination: O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, the United States. It marked the official opening of the Ezhou-Chicago all-cargo air route, which is the first international cargo route linking the Central China and Central US.

The new air service saves about 20 hours compared with transporting the cargo by truck after reaching airports on the eastern coast of the US.

Ezhou Huahu Airport has already opened international freight routes to New York and Los Angeles. This new air route was introduced by Kerry Logistics – a listed company engaged in third party logistics, freight services, warehouse operations, and supply chain solutions.

Jiang Tao, senior vice president of Kerry Logistics, said that the airport will soon open more such international cargo flights to the Central and West US.

So far, the airport has launched 48 domestic cargo flights, as well as 16 international ones, setting up an air route network that radiates to Europe, North America, Middle East and Asia.