The first-ever charter flights carrying Chilean cherries to China will take off next week. China Eastern is introducing two direct services from Santiago to Shanghai that will each be loaded with 110 tonnes of cherries.
“I can confirm that China Eastern will run two charter flights from Santigao airport to Shanghai Pudong International,” China Eastern’s Steven Fang told Asiafruit. “The first flight will depart on 9 December, arriving on 11. The second one will take off on 13 December, arriving on 15.”
He said both flights would route via Miami International Airport (MIA) and Ted Stevens Anchorage International (ANC) but those stops would be to refuel only.
The two cargo flights, which will use the 747ERF aircraft, have been chartered following agreements between China Eastern Airlines and leading Chilean cherry exporters, according to Fang, who flew to Chile to coordinate the programme.
The deal marks a breakthrough for Chile’s booming cherry exports to China.
The vast majority of those exports travel by sea, with the first containers normally shipped towards the end of November. With a 30-day-plus transit time, the fruit usually does not arrive in China until the end of December, so airfreight is key to landing early-season fruit in the market and tapping into the pre-seafreight demand. However, the airfreight options are limited for Chilean exporters, and fruit often has to be transhipped via other destinations, leading to delays and often damage.
“There aren't many international flights to the world from Santiago, especially during Chile’s airfreight season for cherries, from mid-November to the end of December,” explained Kurt Huang of Shanghai Huizhan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market.
“We have to keep on tracking the shipments, and fruit has to go via a whole range of places – the US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand and Australia – to connect for the second voyage to China. It’s frequently delayed in the transhipment airport, which can push up the total transit time from three days to seven days and, in some extreme cases, more than 10 days.”
Chilean exporters also tend to use a ‘sea-air’ option in mid-December, which involves seafreighting fruit from Chile, usually to Los Angeles, for onward shipment by air to export destinations in Asia. However, Huang noted that this method has yet to be approved by Chinese quarantine authorities.
“The industry has been dreaming of a direct air-service from Chile, and now that dream will come true,” Huang told Asiafruit. “Even though it might only be two flights, it's a real breakthrough.”
Indeed, with each cargo flight set to be loaded with 110 tonnes of cherries, a significant volume will land on the Shanghai market in a short period.
“It’s going to be challenging because of the big volume arriving on the market at one time,” noted Huang. “We'll need fast distribution to the other cities after it arrives in Shanghai.”
