Connecting the "Heart of Europe": SF Airlines Launches Ezhou’s First Hungary Route

At approximately 2:00 AM Beijing Time on June 17, 2024, a B747-400 freighter operated by SF Airlines departed from Ezhou Huahu International Airport carrying nearly 100 tons of cargo bound for Budapest, Hungary, marking the official launch of the "Ezhou-Budapest" international cargo route. This is Ezhou’s first air freight route to Hungary.

The "Ezhou-Budapest" route is operated by a B747-400 all-cargo aircraft with one weekly flight scheduled, providing over 200 tons of weekly round-trip capacity between Ezhou and Budapest. Cargo primarily includes express parcels, e-commerce goods, and general freight.

Hungary was the first European country to join the Belt and Road Initiative. Budapest, located in north-central Hungary, is the nation’s largest city and hailed as the "Heart of Europe" and a "Pearl on the Danube." Its advanced transportation and logistics systems make it a key distribution hub for China-Europe trade. Meanwhile, Ezhou—an emerging airport city by Huama Lake—is home to Asia’s first dedicated cargo hub airport, Ezhou Huahu International Airport. As a new platform for inland China’s global connectivity, Ezhou is forging itself into a critical node of the "Air Silk Road." The launch of this direct route links the Danube and Huama Lake across continents, creating a logistics corridor that integrates the strengths of both hubs, broadens China-Hungary trade channels, and energizes the Belt and Road Initiative with enhanced cargo mobility.

Since 2023, SF Airlines has launched European routes from Ezhou to Liège (Belgium) and Frankfurt (Germany). With the addition of Budapest, Ezhou now connects to three European cities, expanding its reach from Western to Central Europe. This denser air network amplifies Ezhou Huahu Airport’s global influence, attracting more "buy global, sell global" trade flows while accelerating the development of an aviation economy and new quality productive forces in the region.

SF Airlines inaugurated Ezhou Huahu Airport’s first international cargo route in April 2023. Over the past year, it has built a global network radiating from Ezhou to Europe, North America, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Moving forward, the airline will continue expanding Ezhou’s international routes in line with market demand, strengthening global supply chain services and supporting Ezhou Huahu Airport’s vision to become a world-class air cargo hub that achieves "overnight nationwide delivery and global connectivity within days," driving high-quality growth in aviation logistics and export-oriented economies.