A B747-8F all-cargo plane of Cargolux Airlines was welcomed with a water cannon salute as it landed at Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport at 8:30 am on June 14, marking the debut of the Zhengzhou-Luxembourg all-cargo plane named "Air Silk Road".
The "Air Silk Road" plane was also the bringer of good news: Over the past ten years, the Zhengzhou-Luxembourg "Air Silk Road" has seen more than 1 million tons of cargo and generated over 10 billion yuan of investment income to its Chinese investor -- Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment Co., Ltd. Besides, it is also the first cargo plane using sustainable aviation fuel or SAF at Zhengzhou airport. That is to say, Cargolux Airlines has become the first international airline using SAF fuel in China's mainland.
Painted with English words of "Zhengzhou-Luxembourg" and "AIRSILKROAD", this wide-body all-cargo plane is also decorated with some Chinese-style red patterns.
Cargolux Airlines has two special cargo planes different from others, not only because of their unique names ("Zhengzhou" and "Air Silk Road" respectively), but also their missions. The Zhengzhou-Luxembourg "Air Silk Road" was launched in June, 2014. Since then, the "Zhengzhou" cargo plane has been flying between Asia and Europe via this route, becoming the first practice of the development of the "Air Silk Road" under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and with principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.
Statistically, the cargo volume through Zhengzhou-Luxembourg "Air Silk Road" in 2017 was 10 times that of 2014, which helped Cargolux Airlines return to profit. Chinese market, with Zhengzhou as a hub, has become the main force driving Cargolux Airlines' business and profit growth. Notably, 2022 witnessed the business peak of Cargolux Airlines: 5.1 billion US dollars of revenue and 1.6 billion US dollars of net profit.
As the second largest shareholder owing 35 percent of stake of Cargolux Airlines, Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment Co Ltd has seen its investment income exceed 10 billion yuan. Taking advantage of the "Air Silk Road", Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment Co Ltd keeps perfecting its business model featuring "hub+opening-up+industry" to promote the province's aviation industry to make more achievements. (Chinese source: Henan Daily Reporter: Dong Ping Guo Beichen Translator: Zhao Hanqing & Yang Jiaxin Proofreader: Chen Xingjie)
