Agreement to Create Aerial Silk Road Signed

Budapest Airport, the Chinese Henan Airport Group, and the Chinese-Hungarian business and logistics development company, CECZ/Utlink, have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at establishing an “aerial Silk Road” between Hungary and China. The deal is expected to bring important economic opportunities and foster a significant expansion of air freight between Hungary and China, by connecting Budapest Airport (BUD) and Zhengzhou Airport (CGO).

One component of the collaboration, a direct CGO-BUD-CGO cargo flight organized by the CECZ/Utlink group and launched last October, was operated by Hainan Airlines five times a week. Dedicated cargo handling warehouses have already been established at Budapest and Zhengzhou airports to handle the traffic.

As a first result of the agreement, Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics company, has designated Budapest Airport as its East-Central European hub and first deliveries commenced last month. As a result of successful implementation, tons of freight (thousands of packages) are arriving at Budapest Airport on a daily basis, and much greater volumes are expected going forward, primarily thanks to the regional hub designation.