On December 30, Hangzhou Airport ushered in a new international cargo route: New York-Hangzhou-Seoul-New York. This route is the first fifth-freedom all-cargo route successfully introduced in Zhejiang Province. This marks that Hangzhou has become a city with open fifth-freedom rights in the air transport market，and Hangzhou Airport has launched a "transnational bus" freight mode.


  
At 09:42 on the same day, all-cargo flight 5Y551 from New York, USA, landed at Hangzhou Airport. After two hours of loading and unloading, 83.75 tons of e-commerce goods will take off from Hangzhou Airport, 1.64 tons of goods will go to Seoul, South Korea,82.11 tons to New York, USA. .
This route is chartered by SF Express International and operated by American Atlas Air, using Boeing 747-400F all-cargo aircraft. There will be one flight per week initially, and the number of flights will gradually increase in the later period.
What is different from the past is that this route will use Hangzhou Airport as a transfer station to achieve free loading and unloading of cargo between the three airports of Hangzhou, New York and Seoul and flexibly distribute cargo,by utilizing the fifth international air traffic rights (referred to as fifth-freedom air traffic rights) between China, the United States and South Korea.
Fifth freedom rights, that is, access rights to third countries, refers to the right for a country's airlines to obtain the right to stop and carry passengers and cargo in a third country while operating a certain international route. Ordinary international routes are generally open between two countries. Once the fifth freedom rights are opened, it means that airlines can carry passengers and cargo in a third country, achieving the effect of free transportation between the three countries. Therefore, the fifth freedom rights are hailed by the aviation industry as the “richest and most economically significant” freedom rights, and are also an important symbol for measuring the level of regional openness and business environment. 
The opening of the fifth freedom rights means that Hangzhou Airport has obtained the ""ticket"" for a global hub with a higher level of openness. It is an important practice in the construction of the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone and will become a powerful starting point for attracting investment in the future. Fifth freedom cargo routes can enable goods from one place to reach multiple countries at once, and achieve ""multi-point serial connection"" by loading and unloading goods at stopping points, reducing land transfer and distribution links and reducing flight transportation costs. 
Sun Xiafeng, Deputy General Manager of Hangzhou Airport, introduced that fifth freedom rights are synonymous with high-level openness in the field of air transportation. The newly opened route has formed a transportation effect of multi-point series connection and flexible cargo grouping.It has effectively improved the international cargo transfer capacity of Hangzhou Airport and the accessibility of international cargo routes.For freight forwarders, the new routes are more convenient, the choices are more diversified, and they can attract and stabilize the supply of goods more effectively. Hangzhou Airport is trying to build a new air cargo ecosystem by opening fifth freedom routes,upstream and downstream enterprises support the development of routes by extending service chains, expanding sales networks, increasing supply channels, increasing flight frequencies and other measures, which will lead to an increase in the province's air cargo throughput. ?
Since this year, Zhejiang Airport Group has thoroughly implemented the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and of the Central Economic Work Conference,resolutely implement the decision-making and deployment of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government on Zhejiang's creation of a ""strategic hub for smooth domestic circulation and domestic- international dual circulation in the new era"", and the development of international air cargo has grown significantly.