ELiège-Europe’s “low-glamour, high-throughput” cargo gateway, and SF’s strategic move

Here, the core value is not brand prestige but operational performance: reliable freighter capacity, fast handling, a dense logistics ecosystem, and strong “ground connectivity” that allows cargo - especially cross-border e-commerce - to be processed and redistributed efficiently. The Ezhou–Liège service becoming Ezhou Huahu’s first international route provides a concrete case of how an air-cargo hub chooses a European entry point based on efficiency rather than name recognition.

Liège as a cargo-first gateway measured in tonnes, not headlines
Liège Airport’s own official statistics for 2023 reported cargo throughput of 1,005,676 tonnes (down from 1,140,060 tonnes in 2022, reflecting a market normalization after exceptional pandemic-era conditions). The same document notes that 2020–2021 were “exceptional years,” driven by the surge in e-commerce and the collapse of passenger flights - important because passenger aircraft typically carry a significant share of cargo in the belly hold.

For 2024, Belgium’s air navigation service provider skeyes reported 1,162,899 tonnes of cargo passing through Liège Airport, alongside 20,579 cargo movements—an indicator that LGG maintained its scale above the one-million-tonne level and strengthened its freighter activity.

Cainiao in Liège: when e-commerce picks the hub, the hub gets redefined
One of the most verifiable markers of Liège’s e-commerce role is Cainiao’s decision - publicly communicated by Liège Airport - to establish Liège as Cainiao Smart Logistics Network’s European logistics hub (announced on 31 May 2018 during the Global Smart Logistics Summit). In the same announcement, Liège Airport describes Cainiao’s model as combining physical logistics services with a collaborative data platform to manage logistics flows in real time.

The strategic takeaway is structural rather than symbolic: cross-border e-commerce selects hubs by operational criteria - parcel handling capacity, automation readiness, service hours, customs processes, and the ability to distribute quickly by road into consumer markets. In that sense, Liège functions less like a passenger destination and more like a high-efficiency “sorting-and-dispatch node” for Europe.

Ezhou–Liège: why the first international route landed at LGG
On 1 April 2023, SF Airlines announced the launch of Ezhou Huahu Airport’s first international cargo route, with a B747-400ERF departing Ezhou carrying approximately 105 tons of cargo bound for Liège Airport.

A stable two-round-trip-per-week schedule can create a meaningful “trade rhythm” if it plugs into a cargo-first gateway that already has a mature handling and distribution ecosystem.

From a gateway strategy perspective, Liège offers a freight-optimized entry into Europe: a place where the “airside-to-groundside” transfer is designed around cargo flows. In that configuration, Ezhou’s role is to consolidate and sort at origin, then move freight on a predictable lane; Liège’s role is to receive, process, and distribute rapidly into Europe’s inland markets.

Choosing an EU gateway is not about “the best-known airport,” but the best connection
The Liège case suggests a practical lesson for Vietnam’s air-cargo strategy: launching Europe-bound cargo capacity should not begin with “which destination sounds biggest,” but with “which gateway connects fastest and most reliably.” A functional cargo gateway must solve three problems at once: freighter capacity and handling at the destination, the speed and predictability of customs/warehouse processes, and the strength of “ground connectivity” to distribute goods into consumption markets.

In supply-chain competition, the “right gateway” matters as much as the “right market”
A reality that often gets overlooked: gateways that are less visible in mainstream media can be where cargo flows run the smoothest. Liège does not need to be a tourism icon to become strategically important for freight - especially in the e-commerce era. SF’s choice of Liège as the first European gateway from Ezhou Huahu signals a clear priority: operational efficiency, ecosystem depth, and measurable reliability over name prestige.