WUHAN(Xinhua) -- A new air cargo route was launched on Wednesday linking Ezhou City in central China's Hubei Province, with Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced SF Airlines.

Early Wednesday morning, a Boeing 747-400 freighter took off from Ezhou Huahu Airport, China's first cargo-focused airport. This marked the launch of the first cargo route connecting the airport with the Middle East, said SF Airlines, China's largest air cargo carrier in fleet size.

A weekly round-trip air cargo service is scheduled for this route, with a total of around 200 tonnes of air express capacity.

The new route will mainly handle general cargo, e-commerce goods, and express shipments, providing efficient and reliable air logistics between China and the UAE, according to the cargo airline.

The Ezhou Huahu Airport was put into operation in July 2022. It is positioned as a cargo-focused hub airport with extensive cargo traffic and some passenger traffic. It opened the first international cargo route in April.