At 11:00 am on March 30, a Boeing 777 air freighter with “Hefei-made” cargos took off from Hefei Xinqiao International Airport towards Los Angeles, the USA, marking the opening of the first international cargo airline in Anhui Province.

The first air freighter carried over 10 tons of exported cargos declared at Hefei Customs, mainly including laptops, liquid crystal displays, garment, etc. This new route has two round-trip flights per week. The outbound flights from Hefei depart on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the inbound flights back to Hefei arrive on Thursdays and Sundays. From May 4, the chartered cargo airplanes will become regular flights.

According to the customs statistics, in 2015, cargos exported by Anhui enterprises via nationwide airports totaled 38,900 tons, including 12,500 tons exported to the USA, accounting for 32.22%, making it the largest export destination. The Hefei-Los Angeles freight flight has become the first international freight route to connect Anhui Province with the outside world, ending the history of this province without international freight flights. This new route is helpful for Anhui's high-end industries, like electronic information and bio-pharmaceutical sectors, to blend into the world economy and is significant for developing high and new technology industrial clusters, cross-border e-commerce and the regional distributing center for imported goods, as well as promoting open economy in the province.