Sichuan Airlines and Nantong Xingdong International Airport employees pose for a photo in celebration of the launch of the Mumbai-Nantong-Osaka cargo flight on Dec 9. [Photo/WeChat account:zgntrb]

The Nantong Xingdong International Airport launched its first regular international cargo flight on Dec 9. The route will fly to Osaka, Japan.

The flight is operated by Sichuan Airlines using an A330-200F aircraft. It sets off from Mumbai, India and later stops in Nantong to carry home textile products, clothing, suitcases, handbags and electronic components produced in Nantong. It then heads toward Osaka.

The flight will run every Friday and Sunday as a key part of the airline's network for countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

According to an agreement signed between the Nantong airport and Sichuan Airlines on Dec 8, the two sides will work to build the airport into a key logistics center for the northern part of the Yangtze River Delta region.

The airline agreed to make the airport a regional logistics hub in East China and form a comprehensive logistics system combining a diverse array of transport methods.

It also promised to launch additional flights to Tokyo and a number of places in 2020, assuming the current flights continue to operate smoothly.

The Nantong airport has reported quick growth in its cargo business since it introduced its first domestic cargo route for SF Express on June 4, 2010.

The airport's cargo and mail throughput has ranked third in Jiangsu province every year since 2012.

A number of logistics companies have also set up operations in the city's airport industrial park, and an air logistics industrial cluster has begun to take shape.