At 12 a.m. on June 23, a plane carrying 4,727 bags of mail with a total weight of 85 tons took off successfully from Zhengzhou, capital city of Central China's Henan Province, to Frankfurt, Germany, marking the official opening of “China Post” regular all-cargo airmail route from Zhengzhou to Europe. This is the third international airmail route opened in Zhengzhou the year, following those from Zhengzhou to Seoul and to Tokyo. Up to now, China Post has opened direct airmail routes from Zhengzhou mail port to 47 cities in 36 countries (regions).

On the morning of the same day, the opening ceremony of the dedicated route was held at Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport. Present at the ceremony were officials and executives from Henan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Henan Provincial Postal Administration, Zhengzhou Customs District, Zhengzhou Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection, Henan Province Airport Group, Henan Postal Branch and other organizations.

The airline of charter flights is operated by flight D4904, a Boeing 747 freighter, and it is scheduled to fly 3 regular flights per week. The opening of this airline brings more stability to the time limit for inbound and outbound international mail between Henan Province and Europe, and it can further guarantee the service and operation of express and logistics. Moreover, the outbound international mails from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other domestic postal ports to the 14 European countries like the UK, France, Germany, Spain, can be transferred to Zhengzhou and dispatched abroad via this charter flight. This way, the transportation time can be reduced by one or two days. Meanwhile, on its way back from Europe, the capacity of this charter flight will be used to carry inbound international mail items, e-commerce goods, electronic products, cold chain food, etc. Therefore, it bears great practical significance for further enhancing the strengths and status of Zhengzhou air port as an international mail hub in China, and accelerating the development of manufacturing clusters and large air hub in Henan Province.

The opening of “China Post” Zhengzhou-Europe regular all-cargo airmail route is a fruit produced by the comprehensive implementation of the strategic cooperation agreement signed between the Henan Provincial Government and China Post Group in 2015. It is also a significant initiative of China Post to build an independently controllable international aviation network and ensure the stability of the international supply chain.

In recent years, focusing on the related requirements of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee and the Provincial Government for pushing forward the development of the synergy of the Five Zones (airports, free trade zones, innovation demonstration zones, cross-border e-commerce integrated pilot zones, big data integrated pilot zones) and the coordination of the Four Silk Roads (land, maritime, air and cyberspace silk roads) and better integrating into the Belt and Road Initiative and expanding opening-up, Henan Postal Branch has been striving to build Zhengzhou port into an international airmail hub and facilitate the development of hub economy and port economy in Henan Province.

At present, Zhengzhou mail port, with direct mail routes to 47 cities in 36 countries (regions), has played an important role in unblocking the major arteries, improving the micro-circulations, and promoting the construction of the "Air Silk Road" in Henan.

Especially since the outbreak of the pandemic, Henan Postal Branch has fully leveraged the flight resources of Zhengzhou airport, and successively launched regular charter flights from Zhengzhou to Seoul and to Tokyo, having transported over 3200 tons of outbound mail items transferred from mail ports of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other cities to Europe, the United States, South Korea and Japan. Batches of urgently needed medical supplies have been transported to all parts of the world through the postal channel, which has effectively guaranteed the normal operation of the international supply chain and the smooth flow of international mail routes. As a result, the postal port of Henan has become a major junction for mail distribution nationwide.