A Boeing 747-400 freighter jet operated by Central China Longhao Airlines arrived at East Midlands Airport on Monday, adding to the roster of cargo airlines now using the airport as a gateway to the United Kingdom market.
Central China Longhao Airlines will operate twice-weekly flights to East Midlands from Zhengzhou International Airport, the airport said in a news release.
China Central Longhao Airlines was restructured and established by Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment Group in 2019. As a state-owned airline and the main base airline in Henan Province, it played a key role in the construction of Zhengzhou international air cargo hub, and operates its fleet throughout Asia and into Europe.
China Central Longhao, which also calls itself Air Central, operates several smaller cargo jets within China, as well as two Boeing 747-400s. It says it plans to soon expand the fleet. International service currently connects Zhengzhou with Liege, Belgium; and Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi, India. The U.S. Department of Transportation in March granted Air Central authority to operate flights to Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles International Airport, but no operations to those destinations have started yet, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.
East Midlands Airport, operated by the Manchester Airport Group, has a short-term goal of increasing cargo volume from a near-record 413,000 metric tons in 2025 to 500,000 metric tons by 2030, which would increase annual revenue by more than $11.2 million. Through September, cargo volume is up 5% year over year to nearly 211,000 metric tons. The airport recently advertised for a new head of cargo development.
Why It Matters: East Midlands has attracted more flight activity from China in recent years, coinciding with the surge in B2C e-commerce orders. The airport’s central location, lack of congestion, fewer night flying restrictions and cargo–focused infrastructure has attracted more freighter operators since the Covid crisis. East Midlands — home to the main U.K. air hubs of DHL Express, UPS and FedEx — is also benefitting from capacity constraints at other airports.
In April, YunExpress opened a cargo terminal at the airport to handle its own package freight arriving on Central Airlines flights from China. Last November, SF Express began operating from Ezhou to East Midlands carrying e-commerce goods on behalf of a distributor. One Air, a startup freighter operated based in the United Kingdom, in September 2025 began scheduled service between Hong Kong and East Midlands, with a focus on carrying e-commerce and electronics from China onboard its Boeing 747-400 cargo jets.
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