A China Postal Airlines Boeing 777 freighter prepares for departure from Jiaxing Nanhu Airport. [Photo/Tide News]

A China Postal Airlines Boeing 777 freighter took off from Jiaxing Nanhu Airport in Zhejiang on Sept 21, opening the province's first direct all-cargo route to Luxembourg. The route is scheduled to operate twice a week.

The B777F freighter has a maximum payload of 84 metric tons per flight. Its maiden flight carried daily consumer goods, cross-border e-commerce products, and home furnishings from the Yangtze River Delta. Outbound flights will mainly carry cross-border e-commerce and light industrial products from Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Shanghai, while return flights will transport European manufacturing equipment and precision electronic components.

The route is expected to shorten logistics times for goods bound for Europe. Jiaxing Maoyuan International Freight Forwarding, based in Jiaxing, shipped 25 metric tons of cross-border e-commerce goods on the maiden flight. Shi Xuebin, the company's manager, said shipments to Europe previously took two to three days, while direct flights from Jiaxing to Luxembourg take about 12 hours.

Jiaxing Customs and border inspection authorities provided clearance support for the route. Since May 28, the airport has opened four international cargo routes, with 128 flights carrying more than 3,200 metric tons of cargo.