New cargo air route links China's Xinjiang, Uzbekistan

A new cargo flight, connecting Urumqi – an administrative center of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Tashkent, was launched on Monday. Xinhua reports about it. 

A cargo plane loaded with clothing and electronic products made in the city of Guangzhou in southern China and in the city of Yiwu in eastern China flew from Urumqi to Tashkent at 16:00 on Monday. The return flight will be filled with agricultural products from Tashkent, general director of the local aviation service company Ren Fei said.

According to the company, the flight will be operated 5-7 times per week depending on the need.

It used to take about 12 days to transport goods from China to Central Asian countries by train or truck. With the launch of the new air route, the time will be shortened to three hours, Ren Fei noted.

To date, Xinjiang has opened 4 international cargo air routes, including from Urumqi to Liege (Belgium), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and now Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

In the first half of this year, about 73,500 tons of cargo and mail were transported through the Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi, which is 11.98% more compared to the same period last year.