China's Xiamen launches its first air cargo route to Brazil

XIAMEN, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A new air cargo service linking southeast China's coastal city of Xiamen with Sao Paulo in Brazil was launched on Friday.

At 10:40 a.m., an Ethiopian Airlines flight carrying 96.1 tonnes of cargo departed from Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport, bound for Sao Paulo, the largest city in South America. It was the first flight of Xiamen airport's first all-cargo service to Brazil.

The cargo route will be operated by a Boeing B777F freighter, and has scheduled flights every Friday in February and every Monday and Friday from March.

The service exports are mainly cross-border e-commerce products, medical products, high-tech products and integrated circuits, and imports include seafood and fruits.

Tekle G/Yohannes, chief representative of Ethiopian Airlines Greater China &Mongolia, said the new freight transport route will promote the development of aviation logistics between the two BRICS countries.

Ethiopian Airlines hopes to cooperate more with the Xiamen airport in the future, and open more flight routes to facilitate trade and personnel exchanges, he said.

BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market bloc that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Xiamen, the host city of the 9th BRICS Summit in 2017, launched the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution Innovation Center in 2020.