NANJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- SF Airlines, the aviation branch of China's express giant SF Express, launched a new direct all-cargo flight service linking Wuxi in east China's Jiangsu Province with Frankfurt, Wuxi Customs said on Tuesday.

The new cargo route, operated by B747-400ERF cargo freighters, is the company's first intercontinental route and the longest, with a flight distance of 9,540 km.

The maiden flight left Wuxi at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday and landed in Frankfurt-Hahn airport 16 hours later after a stopover in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing. Cargo can be loaded in all three cities.

Under regular operation, the new route is expected to provide SF with more than 600 tonnes of cross-border capacity to Europe every week, with a maximum payload of 110 tonnes on each flight, the company said.

SF Airlines has the country's largest all-freighter fleet with 57 aircraft, linking more than 60 cities and regions at home and abroad. The company opened six international routes in 2019.