China’s airfreight sector has experienced remarkable growth, with passenger travel still in the doldrums during the Covid-19 pandemic. The expansion has been driven by strong global demand for medical  supplies to combat Covid-19 and the exponential growth of e-commerce, with more people working, shopping and seeking entertainment online. The air cargo sector appears poised for another boost this year from the massive distribution of Covid-19 vaccines across the world. Last year, Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport in Guangdong province was ahead of its rivals, with its freight volume growing by 9% – the fastest rate among the country’s top five air cargo airports. The facility is also expected to outperform most of the world’s top 10 air cargo hubs, which recorded slowing growth in the first half of last year. Meanwhile, cargo throughput at Hong Kong International Airport was down by 6.99% last year compared with 2019.

Shenzhen airport has opened eight new international routes for cargo – the biggest addition to the list for seven years. With its total annual cargo volume reaching 1.4 million metric tons, the airport ranked third in China last year, and featured among the world’s top 30 in 2019. Zhang Jinlin, Manager at the airport’s international cargo center, said he was surprised by the dramatic change in the business outlook last year. In February and March last year, operations at the airport hit rock bottom because of the pandemic. The turnaround came in April, when the airport apron was packed with aircraft from different countries. Zhang said he had never seen some of the planes, including an Antonov AN-124, the world’s second-largest cargo aircraft, in the 16 years he had worked at the facility. Face masks, testing kits and ventilators were flown from the airport to other parts of the world to meet the acute demand for medical supplies. 

Initial demand for anti-pandemic supplies was followed by orders for e-commerce goods, ranging from fitness equipment to gardening tools. Demand for such items was strong in developed countries with burgeoning “stay-at-home” economies. Recently, vaccines are high on the list as countries look to inoculate their populations to contain the pandemic. After airports in Beijing and Shanghai, the Shenzhen facility obtained the International Air Transport Association’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in pharmaceutical logistics in October – an internationally recognized certification for cold-chain medicine deliveries. The airport also has a 350-square-meter refrigeration center and three refrigerated trailers. 

In late November, Ethiopian Airlines and Cainiao International, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group, launched the first regular international cold chain route between China and Africa from Shenzhen airport. The route was used to transport temperature-controlled drugs, including Covid-19 vaccines, to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, via Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Medical supplies are kept at temperatures as low as -23ºC along the route – cold enough for the storage conditions required for most Covid-19 vaccines throughout the distribution process. In December, the UAE and Bahrain granted marketing authorization for vaccines developed by the mainland pharmaceutical company Sinopharm. On January 2, Egypt also approved the emergency use of Sinopharm vaccines. Zhang Jun, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, said that Chinese vaccine aid has been provided to 14 developing countries and will soon reach 38 more. Last year, Shenzhen airport handled more than 2,900 international cargo flights to 46 countries. Some of China’s outstanding biomedicine companies are located in Shenzhen, including vaccine producer Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co, testing kits supplier BGI Genomics, and ventilator supplier Mindray BioMedical Electronics Co. The city is an e-commerce hub for domestic and international suppliers and home to numerous small and  medium-sized companies that are part of industrial chains, the China Daily reports. 

China’s air passenger traffic fell 45.16% year-on-year over the Lunar New Year holiday, but the number of international cargo flights during the seven-day period surged 212.48% year-on-year.