On March 9, China Southern Airlines flight CZ489, after refueling with 107 tons of bonded aviation fuel at Harbin Taiping International Airport, departed for Mexico. This marks the first Latin American international freight route with a technical stop launched since the bonded aviation fuel project at Harbin Airport Economic Zone commenced operation in January this year. Approved as a regular flight by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, this route is expected to contribute 9.27 US million dollars in import and export value to the city annually.

Achieving a "Win-Win" in Increased Revenue and Cost Savings

At approximately 9:20 AM on the 9th, the all-cargo flight-China Southern Airlines CZ489, loaded with over 80 tons of electronic products, slowly entered the bonded fuel refueling area. Staff quickly connected the aircraft's fuel tanks with two refueling lines via underground pipelines. Under the supervision of Harbin Taiping Airport Customs, the aircraft was successfully refueled with 107 tons of bonded aviation fuel in just over an hour.

According to reporters from the Harbin Taiping Airport Customs, as the first bonded aviation fuel project in our province, the Harbin Airport Bonded Aviation Fuel Project has been officially operational since January 1, 2025. Since its launch, the customs has supervised 534 flights from 14 airlines, refueling a total of 3,740.833 tons of bonded aviation fuel. These flights connect to eight countries and regions, including Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.

The newly opened "Guangzhou-Harbin (Tech)-Mexico-Los Angeles-Guangzhou" route is the first all-cargo route established since the bonded aviation fuel service began in the province. Operating twice weekly on Thursdays and Sundays, it is currently the longest and most fuel-intensive route at Taiping Airport.

"The launch of the bonded aviation fuel service has further enriched and enhanced the functionality of Taiping Airport as a port. It is believed that, attracted by the bonded aviation fuel policy, more international passenger and cargo flights from Europe, Southeast Asia, and even North America will stop at Harbin Airport for refueling in the future. This will unleash the port's potential advantages from multiple perspectives, including airline settlement, logistics expansion, and route increase, thereby boosting the port's cargo volume and trade value. It will provide significant support for Harbin in building an airport-centered economic industrial chain and developing into a comprehensive international aviation hub with regional gateway functions," said Wu Yongquan, Deputy Director of Harbin Taiping Airport Customs. To ensure efficient operation of the bonded aviation fuel system, Wu noted that customs authorities have integrated intelligent oversight into the entire workflow—including procurement, storage, and refueling operations—through dedicated bonded logistics ledger management and a new smart aviation fuel system. This enables real-time monitoring of the "Inflow, Outflow, Transfer, and Storage" of bonded aviation fuel.

A relevant staff member from the Heilongjiang Branch of China Southern Airlines Logistics Co., Ltd. stated that compared to refueling at other ports, using bonded aviation fuel in Harbin offers dual advantages. On one hand, it saves over 100,000 Yuan in fuel costs, and on the other hand, it allows for the transportation of more than 10 additional tons of cargo. This creates a win-win situation by both increasing revenue and reducing costs.

Providing an Economic Growth "Bonus" for Harbin

Harbin is a crucial node on the Arctic route and an aerial gateway in the northeastern direction of the "Belt and Road" initiative. The preferential policies related to bonded aviation fuel can save airlines approximately 13% in fuel costs and about 7% in total flight costs, offering more economic growth "bonuses" for Harbin in terms of international tourism consumption and trade imports and exports.

"Harbin enjoys a unique geographical advantage in aviation, with shorter flight distances to North and Latin America," introduced Yu Liqun, Director of Airport Affairs at the Harbin Airport Economic Zone Management Committee. In July 2024, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), in collaboration with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), issued the Guidelines on Promoting the Construction of International Aviation Hubs, explicitly listing Harbin Airport as one of China’s top ten international aviation hubs. It is positioned as a composite regional gateway international aviation hub targeting the Russian Far East and Northeast Asia, and the only international aviation hub in Northeast China. Statistics show that nearly 30,000 flights globally flew over Harbin in 2019, demonstrating the immense potential of Harbin’s bonded aviation fuel project. Therefore, leveraging national preferential policies and Harbin’s geographical strengths, the Harbin Airport Economic Zone Management Committee has analyzed flight routes passing over Harbin and developed tailored bonded aviation fuel project solutions for airlines operating on these routes. This initiative aims to continuously attract more airlines to participate in Harbin’s bonded aviation fuel program.

The "Duty-Free Oil" used in the Harbin bonded aviation fuel project is entirely sourced from PetroChina Harbin Petrochemical Company. Under the guidance of customs, the supply has innovatively achieved duty-free supply of locally produced aviation fuel through a "formal export-import" procedure.

In the next step, the Harbin Airport Economic Zone Management Committee will continue to promote the landing of bonded aviation fuel flights, further expand air rights, and enable bonded aviation fuel-related flights to pick up and drop off passengers and cargo after landing in Harbin. This will add new momentum to Harbin in trade investment, business cooperation, personnel exchanges, and tourism development, realizing full-chain and all-element services from the production end—refinery output, trade end—Harbin's import and export of goods, consumption end—airline refueling, and extension end—stopover passenger consumption, driving the city's economic development.