(Yicai) Aug. 8 -- Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport is putting more international passenger and freight routes into operation with the intention of becoming a global transport hub to rival Hong Kong International Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The airport has launched four new intercontinental passenger flights so far this year, with the latest route to Budapest starting on Aug. 2. In the first half, it recovered or newly introduced eight international passenger routes and increased the number of flights on seven routes.

Bao’an airport also has launched or increased the number of flights on 18 worldwide cargo routes this year so far. The latest one to Abu Dhabi became operational last month.

The number of regional and international flights to and from Shenzhen has soared 70 percent from a year ago to over 800 regional and international flights per week.

Bao’an airport now serves over 40 regional and international destinations, including Brussels, Tel Aviv, and Mexico City. It is the only airport in the Greater Bay Area that has direct flights to these three cities.

As cross-border e-commerce develops rapidly, Shenzhen’s airport has introduced three new international freight routes and added flights to 15 destinations this year, bringing the total to 38. As a result, the volume of air-transported cross-border deliveries surged 68.5 percent in the first half year on year.

The airport has also met its target of transporting goods to major Asian metropolises in as little as two days and to other cities worldwide within three days.

Over 2.5 million international travelers passed through Shenzhen airport in the first half, a jump of more than two-and-a-half times from the year before. The number of inbound and outbound flights surged 78 percent to over 25,000.

The number of foreign tourists passing through immigration more than tripled in the first half year on year to half a million, and almost 35,000 overseas passengers transited through the airport during the period.

Since the launch of its first international route to Singapore in 1993, Shenzhen airport operated less than 10 international flights for 22 years. This only changed in 2016 when its designation was changed from being a ‘trunk airport’ to an ‘international aviation hub.’

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor