On April 10th, Cargolux, Luxembourg all-cargo airline, celebrated the 20 years anniversary of its first flight to mainland China. On March 31st 1999, Cargolux indeed landed its first flight in Shanghai, marking the beginning of longstanding relation between the two countries in the field of logistics. Today, Cargolux lands 27 times per week in China, as follows: 16 weekly landings in Zhengzhou, 7 weekly landings in Shanghai Pudong, 2 weekly landings in Beijing and 2 weekly landings in Xiamen. Greater China’s operations (including Hong-Kong and Taiwan) reach 57 weekly flights!
After Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Company (HNCA) became shareholder of Cargolux in 2014, Cargolux set up a dual-hub strategy between Zhengzhou and Luxembourg. The airline rapidly ramped up its activities through Zhengzhou Airport (CGO), achieving a throughput of over 155,000 tonnes of cargo in 2017. Between 2014 and 2017, 50% of Cargolux’s worldwide growth was realized at CGO. During an official visit of Prime Minister Xavier Bettel to China in June 2017, President Xi Jinping, briefed about the dual-hub strategy, dubbed this development the “Air Silk Road”.