Norwegian salmon flies to China on chartered flight

With the smooth arrival of flight O3144 carrying 35 tons of Norwegian salmon at Ezhou Huahu International Airport in Hubei province on Thursday, Eastern Air Logistics Co, the freight unit under parent company China Eastern Air Holding, has officially launched its first regular chartered flight for fresh products between Europe and China.

The new regular charter flight would enable Chinese consumers to buy more high-quality fresh products in the upcoming Chinese New Year, according to the Shanghai-based carrier.

The 8,000-kilometer-long cold chain transportation starts from Oslo, Norway to reach Ezhou in central China's Hubei province in 11.5 hours after a technical stopover at Astana, capital of Kazakhstan.

Regarded as the shortest route to bring Norwegian salmon to the China market, the regular charter flight is scheduled to operate twice a week and import 80 to 90 tons of fresh salmon to China on a weekly basis.

Accounting for more than half of the world's salmon production, Norway is the world's largest salmon exporter. The country exported 182,000 tons of salmon to China in 2024, a growth of 14 percent year-on-year.

Being one of the major importers of salmon from Chile, China Eastern's cold chain business has garnered affluent experience in trade and transportation of fresh products. The airliner has created a complete supply chain for salmon products to meet the needs of Chinese gourmets.