On May 25, SF Airlines' "Ezhou-New York-Halifax-Ezhou" international cargo route was officially opened. This is SF Airlines' first international route to Canada, the first fifth freedom route, and the 100th cargo route opened since Ezhou Huahu Airport was opened as an international airport. This line connects important aviation hubs in China, the United States, and Canada, and will inject new impetus into regional economic and trade exchanges and the interconnection of the global logistics market.
The "Ezhou-New York-Halifax-Ezhou" route is operated by a Boeing 747-400 all-cargo aircraft with a maximum payload of 110 tons. It is planned to operate 1-2 flights per week. The main export goods are clothing accessories, electronic products, mechanical electronics and accessories, etc., and the main import goods are mechanical equipment and accessories, shoes and clothing, health products, fresh seafood, etc.
Based on the transportation rights granted by the fifth freedom, that is, "an airline of a country has the right to stop in a third country and carry passengers and cargo while operating an international route", the "Ezhou-New York-Halifax-Ezhou" route can load and unload cargo in New York, the United States, and Halifax, Canada successively. This means that SF Airlines can not only transport the goods exported from Ezhou to New York and Halifax in one go, but also bring back the goods exported from New York and Halifax to China in one go, and provide transportation services for goods exported from New York to Halifax in the middle. The fifth freedom is praised by the industry as the "richest and most economically meaningful" freedom. The opening of the "Ezhou-New York-Halifax-Ezhou" route has become a new starting point for SF Airlines to rely on the cargo portal function of Ezhou Huahu International Airport, the largest professional cargo hub airport in Asia, to use the "fifth freedom" to optimize the route network, open up international markets, and serve global customers.
In 2022, SF Airlines expanded its international operations to New York. In recent years, it has opened cargo routes from Hangzhou and Ezhou to New York, continuously expanding the domestic air logistics channel to North America, and accumulating a good operating foundation for the opening of the "Ezhou-New York-Halifax-Ezhou" route.
In March of this year, SF Airlines put into operation more than 90 all-cargo aircraft, with a capacity leading Asia, and the "domestic and international" cargo route network continues to improve. Next, while deepening the domestic market, SF Airlines will continue to tap the radiation capacity of the Ezhou hub, accelerate the improvement of international operation level, expand international routes, and weave a dense international network, to connect the international logistics supply chain and industrial chain with more competitive air logistics services, and better serve the new development pattern of domestic and international dual circulation. (China Civil Aviation News reporter Tian Yidan correspondent Wang Ruijie)