WUHAN — A Boeing 767-300 cargo plane took off from the Ezhou Huahu Airport in Central China's Hubei province at 11:36 am on July 17, marking the official start of operations of China's first professional cargo hub airport.

Located in the city of Ezhou, it is also the first professional cargo hub airport in Asia and the fourth of its kind in the world.

The new airport, equipped with a cargo terminal of 23,000 square meters, a freight transit center of nearly 700,000 square meters, 124 parking stands and two runways, is expected to improve the transport efficiency of air freight and further promote the country's opening-up.

The operation of Ezhou Huahu Airport conforms to the needs of China's development, said Su Xiaoyan, senior director of the airport's planning and development department.

The number of parcels handled by China's courier companies hit a record high of over 108 billion last year, and is expected to maintain stable growth in 2022, according to the State Post Bureau.