MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China Eastern Airlines pivotal in Chilean exports

In the 2024-2025 cherry season, China Eastern Airlines plans to carry some 12,000 tons of these fruits from Chile

The role of China Eastern Airlines carrying Chilean exports into the Asian giant was highlighted Monday in Beijing, on the opening day of the Chile Week event. China's share in Chile's forestry and livestock shipments rose from 13% in 2013 to 30% in 2023, it was also explained.

According to Chile's Undersecretary of Agriculture Ignacia Fernández Gatica citing National Customs Service data, Chile exported last year forestry and agricultural products worth US$ 5.444 billion to the Chinese market, of which cherries totaled US$ 2,221 million.

On Nov. 18, the inaugural flight of China Eastern's charter service for the new Chilean cherry ripening season took off from Santiago's Arturo Merino Benítez to Shanghai with a stopover in Los Angeles and a total flight time of nearly 25 hours, carrying 76 tons of Chilean cherries.

The first shipment of these fruits for the 2024-2025 season arrived in China on Oct. 12, by sea. Chilean cherry exports are projected to grow by almost 60% compared to the previous season, with China once again being the main destination.

In 2013, when China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, China Eastern took on lease two planes specifically to transport more than 200 tons of fresh Chilean cherries and blueberries, also from Santiago to Shanghai, but with about 30 hours of flight time.

A year later, during the 2014 cherry season, the airline used for the first time a freighter of its own to cover the 19,300-kilometer route, officially kicking off the “fruit charter flight” and ten years of exploring the Chilean and South American markets in the field of fresh food logistics.

Over the last decade, China Eastern has joined other relevant parties to build the so-called “Air Silk Road”, facilitating the arrival of fresh produce from both Chile and other South American countries. According to company sources, the number of cherry charter flights operated by its planes increased from two per year, at the beginning, to more than 100 today.

At the same time, Chilean exports to China have increased from just cherries and blueberries to fresh and dried plums, grapes, nectarines, pork products, and salmon, among others. Over the past ten years, China Eastern planes have brought more than 50,000 tons of such products to China worth over US$ 1 billion.

In April last year, the company launched a charter route to transport salmon between Santiago and Chengdu, in southwest China. In June this year, China Eastern put into service a new scheduled cargo route between Miami, USA, and the Chinese city of Ezhou.

Through intermodal transport cooperation with partners such as LATAM Airlines, more high-quality Chilean agricultural products are reaching the tables of Chinese consumers more quickly and safely.

While 90% of Chilean cherries are sold to China each year, most of those transported by air are handled by China Eastern. In addition to flights from its headquarters in Shanghai, the Santiago-Chengdu/Ezhou route has also begun regular scheduled operations.

In the 2024-2025 South American cherry season, China Eastern Airlines plans to import approximately 12,000 tons of Chilean cherries, of which 5,500 tons will be transported by air and the remaining 6,500 tons by sea.

The 2024 edition of Chile Week will span through December 8 and will also reach the cities of Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Chengdu, with business meetings, seminars, visits, and other activities, thus deepening trade and economic ties between the two countries.

(Source: Xinhua)