JD.com charters B747 for UK-China flights

Chinese e-commerce retailer JD.com has signed a charter agreement with Moldova’s Aerotranscargo (F5, Chisinau) to operate 3x weekly between Hefei and London Heathrow.

Flights will be operated with a B747 freighter. Aerotranscargo’s fleet comprises one B747-400(BCF), five B747-400(BDSF)s, and one B747-400(FSCD), the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. The first service was operated on September 8, 2021, by ER-BAJ (msn 27071), Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. The airline is using Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev as a refuelling stop on the route.

JD.com simultaneously announced that it has now launched a warehouse at an unspecified location in the United Kingdom (adding to its existing European warehouses in Poland and Germany) and a further two in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

JD.com does not currently have any aircraft under an exclusive charter agreement. However, the holding’s Chinese logistics arm, JD Logistics, charters two B737-300(F)s from Loong Air and one B737-400(F) from China Central Longhao Airlines. It is, however, in the process of establishing JD Air Cargo (Nantong).