(Enorth.com.cn)On the night of May 21, a large sized Boeing 747-400F cargo carrier from Singapore stably landed at Tianjin Airport. It indicated the formal openning-up to Singapore-Tianjin-Las Angels Full Cargo Airline and ends the history that Tianjin had not airline access to America. The open up ceremony held in Sheraton Hotel yesterday. Dai Xianglong, mayor of Tianjin city, attended the ceremony. Chin Siat Yoon of Singaporean ambassador to China, Alphonsus Chia of deputy chief executive officer of International Enterprise Singapore, Hwang Teng Aun of Singapore Air Cargo took special trips to attend the ceremony. Besides He Ronglin, general secretary of Tianjin government attended it as well.

“Singapore-Tianjin-Las Angels Full Cargo Airline” was operated by Singapore Air Cargo Co., Ltd. (SAC), the third largest cargo airline company in the world. The airline was put into operation by the usage of the Freedom, Fifth by Tianjin Binhai International Airport after open up of airlines to Asia and Europe. SAC is a sub-company exclusively founded by Singapore Airlines, serving for 68 cities in 35 countries and connecting important trading centers in five continents. It included an airplane team made up of 14 B747-400 Full cargo planes. Tianjin is the fourth city opening up to airline in China after Shanghai, Xiamen and Nanjing. The large sized cargo planes flying along the airline have the maximum loading capacity of 100 tons and the longest voyage of over 13 thousand kilometers. It takes 22 hours to fly through the full process of the airline. At present an airliner takes off every Thursday and Sunday. The open up of the airline plays an active role in strengthening its service and radiate functions, enlarging logistics, information flow and capital flow and promote development and opening up in Binhai New Area. On the ceremony, both sides expressed to found the airline as a high-end one by joint efforts.

According to introduction, Tianjin aviation market is in need presently with a throughput of over two million person-times in Tianjin Binhai International Airport. From this January to April, its passenger throughput, cargo and postal throughput, take-off and landing sortie increased by respectively 32%, 27% and 28% year on year and it will tripled or quadrupled by the year 2010. In the coming years, Tianjin aviation market will be one of the most active markets. Along with the leapforward development of the aviation market, Tianjin Binhai International Airport is in process of carrying out the sixth large sized expansion building. By the year 2008, the energy saving and environment conservative terminal building with reasonable process will be put in effect and the airport will enlarge from current 25 thousand square kilometers to 80 thousand square kilometers while extending the existing runway to 3600 meters and adding a taxiway. Its goal in a long run is to reach a passenger transport capacity of 20 million person-times. With rapid development in Binhai New Area and Bohai Sea Rim area, the cargo capacity in Tianjin Airport will notably increase in the future. At the same time, the city will integrate resources around the Airport to form an aviation city combining passenger transport, cargo, aviation training, aviation manufacturing and temporary port so as to gear up the building of the Northern Air Transport Center.