Ethiopian freighter route links Ezhou to São Paulo and Santiago, opens with 80 t of cherries

Huahu airport in Ezhou, in China's Hubei province, received early on November 9 the flight that marked the start of operations on the Ezhou–Addis Ababa–São Paulo–Santiago cargo route. According to Changjiang Daily, the aircraft, a charter carrying 80.4 tonnes of Chilean cherries, landed at 1:45 a.m. It was the airport's first Chilean cherry charter of the year, which China News Service describes as Asia's largest specialised cargo airport.

The route uses Boeing 777 freighters and has two flights a week. According to Xinhua's Spanish-language service, it is operated by Ethiopian Airlines. Flights connect at Bole airport in Addis Ababa, Africa's main air cargo hub, and continue to Brazil and Chile. According to Changjiang Daily, it is the 61st international route opened by Huahu airport.

An airport official told China News Service that outbound flights mainly carry Chinese cross-border e-commerce goods. Return flights mainly bring South American fresh produce such as cherries and salmon. According to the official, these imported fresh products can reach Chinese consumers' tables in as little as 48 hours. In Addis Ababa, the cargo terminal has a multi-temperature cold store of more than 5,000 m². In Ezhou, after customs clearance, cargo moves through the airport's distribution network to cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, according to Changjiang Daily.

The airport also recently opened an Ezhou–Addis Ababa–São Paulo–Buenos Aires route, with one weekly Boeing 777 flight, mainly for imports of salmon and beef. The Chinese sources do not say when that route started or how much it has carried so far.

The link did not start from scratch. According to Xinhua, Ethiopian opened its Ezhou–Addis Ababa cargo route in February 2024. According to the specialist site Aviacionline, the airline opened the Ezhou–São Paulo link on March 31 with three weekly frequencies, and last season it already flew cherries from Santiago to Ezhou with stops in Lagos and Addis Ababa. The same site notes that the Chile–China cherry air corridor is contested: China Southern opened a Santiago–Los Angeles–Shanghai 777 freighter route in November 2025, and China Eastern has been in the business for more than a decade.

The sources do not disclose freight rates, capacity reserved by customers or expected volumes for the season. Xinhua also mentions the zero-tariff treatment China has applied since May 1, 2026 to the 53 African countries it has diplomatic relations with, but does not say what African cargo uses the route.