Analysis of Night Flight Ratio at SF Express Ezhou Huahu Airport

Based on the information I collected, the following is an analysis of the night flight ratio at SF Express Ezhou Huahu International Airport:

According to official media reports, the night flight operation data of Ezhou Huahu Airport is as follows[1][2]:

• Night Takeoff and Landing Flights
  : More than 86 sorties per day
• Total Daily Flights
  : Exceeding 100 sorties
• Night Flight Ratio
  : Approximately
  86%
  (86 sorties/100 sorties)

1. Night Operation Mode
   : Ezhou Huahu Airport adopts the operation mode of “cargo aircraft group landing in the early morning and group takeoff at dawn”[3]

2. Core Period
   : The intensive takeoff and landing period for flights is from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. every day[3]

3. Efficient Transfer Capacity
   :
   • From 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., nearly 100 aircraft takeoffs and landings[4]
   • The airport has achieved the support capacity of one full cargo aircraft taking off or landing every 2 minutes on average[4]

4. Flight Density
   :
   • Recently, the airport’s maximum number of cargo flights guaranteed in a single day reached 130[3]
   • The daily cargo and mail throughput exceeded 5,000 tons[3]

As Asia’s first and China’s only professional cargo hub airport, Ezhou Huahu Airport’s operational characteristics determine its high-proportion night flight configuration[5]:

• Air cargo has extremely high requirements for timeliness
• Cargo aircraft have a transfer time of less than 4 hours from landing, unloading, loading to takeoff
• It needs to match the time window for cargo sorting and transshipment

[1] CCTV.com - “Thoroughfare of Nine Provinces” Accelerates Towards “Thoroughfare of Five Continents” (https://news.cctv.com/2023/10/06/ARTIWUfgCTpSOxPs3hxws14Z231006.shtml)

[2] Sina Finance - Ezhou Huahu Airport Completes Cargo Route Transfer, SF Express’ Largest Transit Center Put into Operation (https://finance.sina.cn/2023-09-05/detail-imzksacf0183147.d.html)

[3] Xinhua News Agency - Night Visit to Ezhou Huahu International Airport: Super Hub’s “Cargo” Capacity Fully Unleashed (http://www.news.cn/local/20250126/fb8f037a86ea4433a2ba160363c5f68a/c.html)

[4] Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Transport - Night Visit to Ezhou Huahu International Airport: Witness the Full “Cargo” Capacity of a Professional Cargo Hub Airport (https://jtj.wuhan.gov.cn/jtzx/zwdt/202507/t20250718_2622228.shtml)

[5] Civil Aviation Administration of China - On the First Anniversary of the Transfer of SF Express’ Full Cargo Aircraft Routes at Ezhou Huahu International Airport (http://www.caac.gov.cn/local/ZNGLJ/ZN_XXGK/ZN_HYDT/202410/t20241030_225712.html)