YTO Airlines begins new Xi’an-Bangkok service

China’s YTO Airlines is beginning a new cargo service linking Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, and Bangkok (BKK).

YTO will operate the route using B737 freighter aircraft three times a week. The new service is the second all-freighter route between Xi’an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) and Southeast Asia, following a previous service that connects Xi’an with Vietnam’s capital Hanoi.

The maiden return flight from Bangkok was loaded with 14 tonnes of mangosteens, Thai mini pineapples and other tropical fruits from Southeast Asia. Various types of fresh goods will follow, including seafood, with an estimated annual import volume of 1,500 tonnes per year, the airline says.

Outbound cargo will mainly consist of e-commerce express goods and general freight.

The new route has significantly shortened the time and reduced the cost of transportation, as the city of Xi’an has had a high and growing demand for imported fruits over the past few years but had to wait for transfers from Shanghai and Guangzhou, according to an official from the management committee in the Airport New City of Xixian New Area.

YTO Airlines is the aviation arm of express service provider YTO Express, which has 82 logistics distribution centers nationwide and business extending to 150 countries and regions around the world.

From January to May this year, Xi’an Xianyang International Airport ranked first among the country’s top 10 airports in terms of the growth rate of cargo throughput.

In the second half of the year, the airport is expected to open a number of cargo routes, such as Brussels-Xi’an-Delhi, Chennai-Xi’an-Mumbai, Xi’an-Istanbul, Moscow-Xi’an-Almaty, and Xi’an-Osaka.