SF Express continues to develop China cargo hub plan

SF Express has confirmed its plans to set up a huge new air cargo airport in central China.
According to reports, the express firm on Wednesday signed an agreement with the provincial government and an investment company to invest a total of Yuan5bn in a joint venture that will build the airport in Ezhou City in the Hubei province of central China.
SF Holdings will invest Yuan2.3bn, the investment company Yuan2.45bn and provincial government Yuan250m for a smaller stake.
The reports say that the airport is estimated to reach a cargo throughput of 2.4m metric tons and receive 1m passengers by 2025. By 2045, the airport is expected to handle around 7.6m tons of cargo.
A logistics park will built close to the airport, which will act as the airline’s hub for the whole of China and international traffic, in a similar way to FedEx’s Memphis base.
It will help packages "move seamlessly in and out of China".
Reports that the “Chinese FedEx” plans to set up its own air cargo airport have been circulating for some time, with suggestions that the hub could be open by 2020.
Reports earlier this year also suggested that the express firm had begun work on forming a joint venture to develop the airport.
SF Express has been adding its widebody fleet of late, purchasing two B747-400Fs, as it looks to expand its reach.
In August, its airline arm added its 40^th freighter to its fleet, which includes five B767s, 18 B757s and 17 B737s.
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