Global logistics companies are battling in China's skies, alongside the booming air express industries.
And as the demand for speedier delivery grows, it is driving development across China to its smaller and more far-flung towns and cities.
READY TO TAKE OFF
China's civil aviation authority has approved the plans of an industry leader to build an airport in Ezhou city, central China' s Hubei province.
S. F. Express, established 23 years ago by Shun Feng Airlines, is planning the airport as the world' s fourth international air logistics hub and the first in Asia.
The firm, which had set up a strong air cargo transport network by 2009, has 30 aircraft, including China's first wide-body Boeing 767 imported last year.
And it has set to expand its fleet as it aims to become a global logistics enterprise.
Both S.F. Express and Yuan Tong, the second Chinese private express firm to acquire an aircraft fleet are also facing competition from global giants such as the U.S.-based FedEx.
According to the China Express Association, business volume last year hit 20.6 billion deliveries and total revenue was 276 billion yuan - year-on-year growth of 48 percent and 35 percent respectively.
Air freight has increased rapidly and now accounts for more than half the total volume - and sometimes up to 70 percent of the total.
"The pursuit of speed is the mission of the express industry. So its development is tied to the development of air transport," says Zhang Yuzhou, director of industry development at the association.
GEARING UP FOR CHINESE MARKET
International giants, domestic enterprises, e-businesses, aviation companies and investors are targeting the China logistics market.
Since 2011, the express sector has grown at an average annual rate of more than 50 percent.
But China' s vast territory requires the industry to build air transport infrastructure to serve the more remote areas of the market.
The government has issued the guidelines on promoting the development of general aviation, which aim to enable the market to guide development.
The guidelines outline how China will build more than 500 airports by 2020 to ensure that all major and prefecture-level cities have general purpose air transport.
"China's central and western regions and considerable second and third-tier cities are a rising market for short and medium-distance air express," says Bill Schultz, senior vice president, business development China, for New York-listed aircraft maker Textron Aviation.
"Small and medium-sized general aircraft, especially multipurpose aircraft, are better for transporting cargo to these cities."
SUCCESSFUL PATH OF INT'L EXPRESS GIANT
The development of FedEx in the United States is often cited as an example for China, as both countries have vast territories.
Zhong Guoyi, vice-president of international express of FedEx China agrees, saying the logistics giant has a 24-hour North American air transport network with a well-serviced fleet of major aircraft and small and medium-sized cargo planes.
"We have fleets of aircraft and cooperate with independent operators to service different markets," says Zhong.
FedEx has shown that success in logistics depends on an airport network among different regions, including different-sized airports for general aviation, says Professor Jeffery Towson, of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University.
"The one who builds networks of airports and various aircraft matching runways will take the initiative," says Towson.
"As a result, express will drive economic development with the improvement of air transport."
