A New 24-Mile Cargo Flight To Hong Kong…

The least efficient cargo route in the world is being operated by a Chinese airline. There is a reason for the route.

SF Airlines’ Shenzhen to Hong Kong flight

SF Airlines is a Chinese cargo airline based in Shenzhen that has a fleet of around 70 cargo jets, ranging from the Boeing 737 to the Boeing 747.

The airline has a variety of cargo routes. The airline just launched its shortest route yet, between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It has been possible to take a train between the two cities in just 15 minutes in the past.

SF Airlines launched a cargo flight between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The flight times here are very strange.

On March 19 there was a flight from Shenzhen to Hong Kong. The flight took 36 minutes, climbed all the way up to 12,000 feet, and flew over 70% of the distance between the two airports.

The flight from Hong Kong to Shenzhen was in the other direction. The flight took 20 minutes, climbed up to 8,000 feet, and flew an actual distance of 93 miles.

Why is this flight necessary?

It's not efficient to operate a 36 minute Boeing 767 flight to move cargo to a destination 24 miles away. What is the purpose of this flight?

• In recent weeks, Hong Kong has seen a massive coronavirus outbreak, causing mainland China to largely cut off links to Hong Kong; there have been limited train services, etc.
• Prior to this new flight, SF Airlines had stopped cargo shipments to Hong Kong due to the outbreak; for that matter, there had been a lot of issues with the logistics of shipping stuff to Hong Kong
• While flying cargo to Hong Kong seems inefficient, presumably some of this cargo isn’t actually staying in Hong Kong, but rather is connecting onto other flights from Hong Kong Airport

This is inefficient no matter how you slice it. In the context of China's approach toward coronaviruses, as well as mainland China closing off shipments to Hong Kong, this isn't surprising.

FedEx ran an 18-mile flight between San Diego and Tijuana during the Pandemic to make shipments between the United States and Mexico easier.

Bottom line

SF Airlines has launched a new service between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The carrier's shortest route is this one. The flight can take up to 35 minutes based on the traffic patterns airlines have to fly in.

One of the least efficient cargo routes out there has to take the cake. It might be a necessary evil at the moment.

What do you think about the Shenzhen to Hong Kong route?

There is a tip to the hat.