Airfreight industry reaches for new heights

In February and March last year, operations at the airport hit rock bottom because of the pandemic, forcing Zhang to work mostly from home.

However, he said the turnaround came in April, when the airport apron was packed with aircraft from different countries. Zhang said he had never seen some of the planes, including an Antonov AN-124, the world's second-largest cargo aircraft, in the 16 years he had worked at the facility. Some of the aircraft had been previously requisitioned for military use.

One company even sent a fleet of six planes to the airport on a single mission.

Face masks, testing kits and ventilators were flown from the airport to other parts of the world to help people in need at a time when the pandemic was being brought under control in China but was raging elsewhere.

At China's busiest airports, including Shenzhen's, there was acute demand for exports of medical supplies to fight the pandemic.

Zhang's team worked night and day to handle the huge amount of work. He lives near the airport, and sometimes had to be called back to work in the middle of the night. Some of his colleagues who live farther away voluntarily slept at the airport to save time.

Air cargo demand remained strong last year, but the supplies being shipped changed as the world entered a new phase in the battle against the virus.

Initial demand for anti-pandemic supplies was followed by orders for e-commerce goods, ranging from fitness equipment to gardening tools. Demand for such items was strong in developed countries with burgeoning "stay-at-home" economies.

Vaccines are high on the list as countries look to inoculate their populations to contain the pandemic.