Xinjiang airport sees surge of international cargo, mail throughput

China

Xinjiang airport sees surge of international cargo, mail throughput

2025-07-01 20:05 Last Updated At：21:07

International cargo and mail throughput of the Urumqi Tianshan International Airport in northwest China's Xinjiang rose by 659 percent year on year to 46,000 tons as of June 26, according to local authorities.

The volume exceeded the airport's total international cargo and mail throughput in 2024.

A cargo flight from Tashkent of Uzbekistan landed at the airport on the morning of June 28 and carried a batch of cross-border e-commerce goods back to Tashkent the same day.

The airport's new terminal which began trial operations on April 17 has greatly shortened the customs clearance time for international cargo flights.

With the new terminal, a key part of the airport's expansion project that started in 2019, put into operation, the Urumqi Tianshan International Airport is delivering more efficient air transport services, and its annual passenger and cargo handling capacity has more than tripled.

Thus the airport, formerly known as Urumqi Diwopu International Airport, has become an air hub for China's westward opening up, according to Xinjiang Airport Group Co., Ltd.

With the completion of the expansion project, the airport now has three runways, up from one, and can handle up to 48 million passengers and 550,000 tons of cargo annually. It is now capable of supporting nearly 367,000 aircraft takeoffs and landings per year.

The airport now operates 28 international cargo routes linking 18 countries and regions.

Global food prices rise for 2nd consecutive month in March amid Middle East conflict: FAO

Global food commodity prices climbed for a second consecutive month in March, driven mainly by higher energy costs linked to escalating conflict in the Middle East, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in report released on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 128.5 points in March, up 2.4 percent from February and 1.0 percent above its level a year ago.

According to the report, the FAO Vegetable Oil Index and Sugar Price Index showed the largest increases, up 5.1 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.

The FAO Cereal Price Index increased by 1.5 percent from the previous month, driven primarily by higher world wheat prices, which rose 4.3 percent.

The FAO Meat Price Index rose by 1.0 percent from the previous month, and the FAO All-Rice Price Index declined by 3.0 percent in March, according to the report.

FAO stated that rising energy and fertilizer prices have been driving up agricultural input costs.

If the conflict stretches beyond 40 days, farmers will have to choose to farm the same with fewer inputs, plant less, or switch to less intensive fertilizer crops, according to FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.

These choices will hit future yields and shape food supply and commodity prices for the rest of this year and beyond, Torero said.