China has enhanced its international air freight capacity to smooth the global supply chain of medical goods amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s civil aviation authority said on Sunday.
As of March 26, China has conducted 23 international transport flights of medical supplies, with a total of 406 tons of materials delivered, playing an important role in global supply chains, said Zhang Qing, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Recently, China’s international air freight capacity has been alleviated. International all-cargo flights from Chinese and foreign airlines will be increased to 930 flights per week, which is close to the level before the pandemic, Zhang said.
The civil aviation authority has introduced a series of measures to combat the outbreak. For instance, cargo carriers have been given access to more large airports to ease the burden during peak hours, opened up “green channels” and encouraged Chinese and foreign airlines to do overtime chartered flights.
The move has reduced aviation logistics costs, including cutting airport and air traffic control charges as well as fuel costs and sales differentials, Zhang said.
China has 235 airports. In 2019, China’s annual passenger throughput stood at 1.35 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.9 percent. Cargo throughput in the same year reached 17.1 million tons, up 2.1 percent year-on-year.
