Air cargo is an important strategic resource for the country. It has the characteristics of high added value, speed and efficiency in transporting cargo. It plays an important role in emergency response, rescue and disaster relief, and military support.As China's economy shifts from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development, e-commerce and express logistics industry continue to grow rapidly, the proportion of air express consignments increases, the business model of enterprises extends from cargo transportation to the whole industrial chain, traditional air cargo enterprises gradually transform to provide whole-process service air logistics enterprises, and burgeoning air logistics enterprises continue to emerge and grow speedily.The development trend of air cargo specialization and logistics has put forward higher requirements for the layout, operating environment and efficiency of air cargo facilities.Promoting the development of air cargo facilities is of great significance to gathering and optimizing the allocation of aviation factor resources, enhancing the international competitiveness of air cargo enterprises, and promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the civil aviation and logistics industries. It is an inevitable choice for deepening the supply-side structural reform of the aviation industry. The transformation and upgrading of the aviation industry is an important way to achieve high-quality development.

Judging from the ranking of domestic airport cargo and mail throughput in 2020: 

Combined with the preliminary statistical data released by various places and the summary of the ""Way of Logistics"", the cargo throughput of domestic airports in 2021 remained unchanged as in 2020.

As the world's top three and the first international air cargo hub in China, in 2021, the annual cargo throughput of Shanghai Pudong and Hongqiao airports reached 4.366 million tons (the entry-exit cargo volume of Pudong Airport accounted for 93.7% of the total), an increase of 8.47%, exceeding the historical high of 4.23 million tons in 2017, and setting a new record in the level of security of Shanghai air cargo hub .

In 2021, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport completed 914,000 tons of cargo and post throughput, exceeding the historical high of 802,000 tons in 2020, and the production volume reached 900,000 tons for the first time, setting a new record in the contrarian trend.Coupled with Hangzhou's location, transportation and industrial advantages, it is still difficult for Zhengzhou and Chengdu to catch up.
Therefore, the top chair in the third echelon of the medium term, still belongs to Hangzhou.Recently, the General Office of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government issued the ""Opinions on Accelerating the Development of International Air Cargo"" to build Hangzhou Airport into a national air logistics center and a global ""postal express"" distribution center.

In 2021, the cargo and mail throughput of Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport exceeded 700,000 tons, an increase of about 10%. This is the first time that the cargo and mail throughput of Zhengzhou Airport exceeded 600,000 tons in 2020, which could be said to be one step up after one year.The cargo scale ranked 6th in China for two consecutive years and ranked among the top 40 in the world.
International and regional cargo throughput exceeded 540,000 tons, an increase of 23%, ranking fifth in the country for five consecutive years;Inbound and outbound cargo flights exceeded 10,000 for the first time, hitting a record high.

In 2021, the cargo throughput of Chengdu Shuangliu Airport was 628,000 tons, only a slight increase over 2020, and there was a certain gap with Zhengzhou's 700,000 tons.
But Chengdu Shuangliu Airport passenger throughput ranks second in the country, which was difficult for Zhengzhou to match.
In addition, in June 2021, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport will be completed and put into operation, which will become an important support for building a world-class airport group in Chengdu and Chongqing, and Chengdu has the advantage of ""double international airport"".Tianfu International Airport and Shuangliu International Airport will achieve ""two integrated"" operation, and jointly build Chengdu international aviation hub.Tianfu International Airport focuses on building an international passenger and cargo aviation hub, while Shuangliu International Airport mainly operates domestic business and regional routes. The two airports can be alternate airports to each other, and gradually form a dual-hub airport system with dislocation development, complementary functions and synergistic linkage.Therefore, Chengdu airport air cargo throughput still has a certain growth potential.

Of course,in the third echelon there is a potential competitor may come from behind, can not be ignored, that is, Hubei Ezhou Huahu Airport.At 12:19 p.m. on December 29, 2021, the verification aircraft Cessna C560 flying from Beijing slowly landed at Ezhou Huahu Airport, which is the first "air passenger" ushered in since the construction of Huahu Airport.At 4 PM, the Cessna C560 began to take off and land at Huahu Airport, marking the completion of the first professional cargo airport in China and the start of verification flights, laying the foundation for the airport to be put into operation as scheduled in 2022.As the first professional cargo airport in China, Ezhou Huahu Airport has an air cargo terminal of 23,000 square meters, a sorting center of 678,000 square meters, 124 slots and two runways 3,600 meters long and 45 meters wide.It is expected that by 2030, the annual cargo throughput of Ezhou Huahu Airport will reach 3.3 million tons.Huahu Airport is expected to be operational by mid-2022.Wuhan-Ezhou city integration is accelerating, Huahu Airport and Wuhan Tianhe Airport will form Hubei aviation "passenger and cargo dual hub" pattern.