Barely five months after the start-up of air freight services between Luxembourg and Zhengzhou, Cargolux celebrated the first 10,000 tonnes of freight carried between the two hubs.
The flight carrying the 10,000th tonne left Luxembourg on Friday after a ceremony attended, amongst others, by François Bausch, Luxembourg’s minister of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure as well as Paul Helminger, chairman of the Board of Directors of Cargolux, and Dirk Reich, Cargolux president & CEO, who both travelled to China on the flight, and media representatives. Cargolux utilized its latest 747-8 freighter, named "City of Zhengzhou", for this occasion.
Upon arrival in Zhengzhou, the flight was met by representatives of the Henan Provincial government and HNCA, as well as local media, for a ceremony in recognition of this major achievement.
Fifth weekly Zhengzhou flight to start in November
Cargolux inaugurated flights to Zhengzhou in June 2014 and currently operates four weekly services. The fifth weekly flight will be introduced on 25 November. The route has shown very positive developments and Cargolux plans to implement additional frequencies by the end of 2014. The airline intends to eventually grow this route to multiple daily services.
IATA statics show that Zhengzhou’s Xinzheng International Airport, CGO, is the fastest growing cargo airport worldwide while Luxembourg is the fastest growing cargo airport in Europe. With a population of 1.4 billion, China has become the world’s second largest economy after the United States and is expected to become the largest economy in the world by 2024.
"Today's flight is a major milestone for Cargolux and our shareholder HNCA,” says Dirk Reich. “We are proud to have reached this goal so fast and are happy to see the fulfilment of our vision for a fruitful cooperation with our Chinese partners. I also want to thank the Luxembourg government and the government of the Henan Province for their support and long-term commitment.”
The implementation of regular air cargo services between Luxembourg and Zhengzhou is part of the dual-hub strategy centered on Luxembourg’s Findel airport in Europe and on Zhengzhou’s Xinzheng International Airport in Asia. The dual hub strategy is a major pillar of the Commercial Cooperation Agreement between Cargolux and HNCA.