U-Freight strikes deals with Baiyun airport-Logistics

Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport will ease bureaucratic burdens and provide a minimum cargo throughput for U-Freight in exchange for the logistics major's focus on the airport to help make it the air cargo hub of Southern China it hopes to become, according to a company statement.

As part of the agreement, U-Freight is making a commitment to move a large volume of airfreight through the airport, as well as help introduce foreign airlines to make direct connections with Baiyun International.

U-Freight opened its first office in Guangzhou in 2002, adding an operations facility at the new airport in 2005.

"From the start, we have supported the government's development of the new Baiyun International airport. The agreement that we have signed recently will enhance the status of the airport and help it to fulfil its crucial role in supporting the further economic development of the Pearl River Delta," said U-Fright CEO Simon Wong.

In exchange, U-Freight will benefit being able to operate 24 hours a day and from simplified customs clearance, which will include a "safe and honest forwarder system" and a "green channel" for cargo security.

Baiyun International is now one of China's largest airfreight gateways, but most air cargo from the booming Pearl River Delta region is still routed through Hong Kong.

Construction of a third runway is due to start next year which will allow the airport to handle 350,000 aircraft annually as well as two million tonnes of cargo by 2010.

In China, U-Freight's network now extends to multiple facilities in most of the country's key trade gateways, said a company statement. The company operates under a number of brands in China including U-Freight China, U-Ocean, Shanghai Rijin, Dalian China Express and Shanghai Renaissance - each servicing different trades, types of industry and modes of transport.