At 22:54 on January 29, a Zhongzhou Airlines cargo aircraft took off from Ezhou Huahu International Airport, bound for Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. This marks the official launch of the "Ezhou= Riyadh" international cargo route, the second new route opened at Huahu Airport in 2026, laying a solid foundation for a strong start to the year.




          The "Ezhou=Riyadh" route is a regular cargo route, planned to operate 4 flights per week, using Boeing 777-200F aircraft with a payload of 100 tons. The first outbound flight will mainly load cross-border e-commerce goods.

          Saudi Arabia is located at the intersection of Asia, Africa, and Europe, and is China's largest trading partner in the Middle East. China has long been the top trading partner of Saudi Arabia. Its capital Riyadh is located in the heart of the Middle East and is a regional political center, commercial and logistics hub. The opening of this route will further expand the air logistics channel between China and the Middle East.

        Previously, Huahu Airport had partnered with SF Airlines and Etihad Airways to launch a cargo route from Ezhou to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, gradually increasing the frequency to 7 flights per week. The opening of this new route will further deepen China's economic and trade cooperation in the Middle East.

        It is reported that on January 30th, Huahu Airport will also open an international cargo route from Ezhou to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, extending the air cargo route network to central and western Africa for the first time. It is also the second air cargo route directly connecting Huahu Airport to Africa after Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in northeastern Africa.

        The opening of two international cargo routes for countries along the "the Belt and Road" in two days is a strong step for Huahu Airport to accelerate the construction of a "world-class air cargo hub", a powerful measure for Hubei to build a new highland of inland opening up and accelerate the building of an important strategic fulcrum for the rise of the central region, and a vivid footnote to "China's opening door is getting bigger and bigger".