New-found edge

Shenzhen airport's robust growth holds promise in keeping its new-found edge in handling freight in post-pandemic recovery. The airport has opened eight new international routes for cargo — the biggest addition to its destinations list in seven years.

With its total annual cargo volume reaching 1.4 million metric tons, the airport ranked third in China last year. It was among the world's top 30 in 2019. It was an opportunity identified after the initial shocks of the pandemic buffeted the aviation industry.

Zhang Jinlin, a manager in Shenzhen airport's international cargo center, said he never expected such a dramatic change in last year's business outlook.

In February and March 2020, the airport's operations hit rock bottom because of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing Zhang to work mostly from home. The turnaround came in April. He recalled that the airport apron was packed with aircraft from various countries, some of which he had never seen in his 16 years working there, including Antonov AN -124, the world's second-largest cargo plane. Some of the aircraft were previously for military use and one company sent a fleet of six planes in one go.

From the airport, masks, testing kits and ventilators were flown to other parts of the world to help people in need. That was when the pandemic was showing signs of being brought under control in China as it raged in other places. At China's busiest airports, including Shenzhen's, the demand for exporting anti-pandemic supplies was acute.

Zhang's team worked around the clock to handle the mountain of work. He lives near the airport and, sometimes, had to be called back to work in the wee hours. Some of his colleagues living farther away have voluntarily slept at the airport to save time.

The air cargo demand remained strong last year. But what was being shipped out changed along with the world entering a new phase in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

First came anti-pandemic supplies, followed by cross-border e-commerce commodities, from fitness equipment to gardening tools. The demand for such items was robust in developed countries, presumably because of burgeoning "stay-at-home" economies.

Vaccines will be high up on the list too as countries place their hopes on having their populations inoculated to check the pandemic's spread.

Wan Jianjun, deputy general manager of Shenzhen airport's logistics department, said they're ready to play a crucial role in meeting the huge demand in the global transportation of COVID-19 vaccines, citing the airport's expertise in cold-chain medicine delivery and a rapidly expanding international airline network.

After Beijing and Shanghai airports, Shenzhen airport obtained the International Air Transport Association's Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in pharmaceutical logistics in October — an internationally recognized certification of cold-chain medicine delivery. It also has a 350-square-meter cool center and three cool trailers for this purpose.

By late November, Ethiopian Airlines and Cainiao International had started the first regular international cold chain route between China and Africa, which aims to transport temperature-controlled drugs, including COVID-19 vaccines, from Shenzhen airport to Addis Ababa via Dubai.

The route can endure temperatures as low as -23 C, cold enough to handle the low-temperature storage required for most COVID-19 vaccines throughout the distribution process.