A batch of cross-border e-commerce goods recently took off from Hangzhou International Airport bound for Singapore, marking the successful rollout of the airport’s very first export shipment under the new “Airside Direct” model.

Under this streamlined setup, the shipment, which originated in Guangzhou, was transferred directly from the domestic arrivals apron to the international cargo departure zone via the airport’s airside corridor, with just a single handoff and a turnaround time of just 30 minutes.

“Think of ‘Airside Direct’ as an internal express pass for cross-border freight,” explained a customs official from the airport’s Customs office. The new approach not only slashes the time and cost that bogged down the old process, but also makes better use of available space on both domestic and international flights. Demand speaks for itself: in the first five months of this year, international cargo transfer volumes at the airport have surged, with Customs supervising 2,677 tonnes of “air-to-air” transshipment goods—an 11.91% jump year-on-year.

“Under the old domestic-to-international transfer system, we had to go through four separate steps: pick up the cargo, truck it over, unload it, and send it through security again. Each step meant lining up staff, scheduling vehicles, and waiting in queues—transit efficiency took a constant hit, and the whole process could drag on for about four hours,” said Yang Fan, deputy manager of airport operations at Hangzhou Ruisheng International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd., the firm handling this first run. “The new model essentially unblocks the logistics flow inside the airport itself. We’ve cut transfer time to under 30 minutes, reduced overall clearance time by more than 60%, and saved roughly 30% on ground drayage costs. For time-sensitive shipments, that means we can more flexibly coordinate with domestic and international flight schedules and get goods to overseas markets faster.”

With the “Airside Direct” system now in place, cargo no longer needs to leave the apron area. Instead, it moves directly from the domestic cargo terminal to the international one via a dedicated airside corridor, eliminating multiple loadings, offloadings, and redundant security checks—a genuine reduction in steps and a real boost in efficiency. Going forward, the airport’s logistics arm will continue to fine-tune its “air-to-air” transfer support system, steadily upgrading its cross-border freight service capabilities, so that more “Made in Zhejiang” goods can reach the world with greater speed and less friction.