A BOEING 747-400 cargo plane left Qingdao airport for Los Angeles in the United States carrying 93 tons of cargo Feb. 20. It was the first inter-continental air route opened in Qingdao.

    The route will be operated by Yangtze River Express Co., and will fly to L.A. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

    Qingdao airport will become a regional hub in the future. A modern logistics center, plane repairing center, high-end professional residential community, airplane exhibition center and high technology industrial park will be built near the airport.

    The airport will be able to handle 18.5 million passengers by in 2015 rising to 29 million in 2020. Cargo throughput will be 450,000 tons by 2020.

    (Wang Yuanyuan, Li Xiaohan)