Chinese carrier Uni-top Airlines will operate B747 freighter services between Kunming in China and Dubai, UAE.
Announcing the new service, the carrier's vice president Yang Fan, who was attending an air transport conference held by Chinese Yunnan provincial delegation in Dubai, said the
thrice-weekly service will support the development of civil aviation and trade between China and the UAE.
According to a report in TradeArabia, more than 20 traders, cargo agents and media attended the event.
Earlier this year, the carrier added B747F routes between its Wuhan base and European destinations Liege and Luxembourg.
Comprehensive strategic partnership
At the Dubai event senior Chinese delegation members, Zhang Changsheng, deputy director of Yunnan Provincial Development & Reform Commission and director general of Yunnan Provincial Civil
Aviation Development Administration, said that during Chinese President Xi Jinping recent visit to the UAE, the leaders of the two countries had decided to upgrade bilateral relations to a
comprehensive strategic partnership.
"We expect to strengthen joint marketing promotion for airline flights, tourism market and especially air cargo market in order to push the development of bilateral economy and trade, and we also
expect to promote abundant green agricultural products with Yunnan plateau characteristics to the UAE for sharing,” they said.
Yunnan province is China’s major tourist and agricultural province, with rich natural resources and abundant ecological agricultural products. Some US$4.8 billion of agricultural products such as
tea, coffee, vegetables and fruits have been exported in 2017.
Next huge Chinese airport project
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the Yunnan Provincial Government have joined forces to build Kunming Changshui international airport into an international hub with five
runways, which is expected to have 300 domestic and 200 international and regional routes by 2030 generating 120 million passengers and 1.78 million tonnes of cargo.
In a related development, Unit-top Airlines last week took redelivery of its sixth passenger-to-freighter converted A300-600F after its conversion at the EFW facility in Dresden, Germany. The
airline has a seventh A300-600 in conversion with EFW.
Uni-Top’s fleet of A300Fs currently connect China to Southeast Asia, India, and Central Asia.
Nol van Fenema
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