China’s first cargo airport, Ezhou Huahu Airport, in Ezhou, Central China's Hubei province has marked a development milestone as it carried out flight verification of the gateway signalling the completion of the airport.

A Cessna 560 plane conducted the flight verification on December 29, according to Xinhua, China's state media.

"The airport is the country's first cargo airport, with the functional orientation of the air cargo hub and feeder airport for passenger transport," it said in its report. "It is also China's first airport project that introduces social capital and enterprises."

The hub has two runways, a large area for logistics operations, and a passenger terminal.

Chinese freighter airline, SF Express — based in Shenzhen — now operates in the new hub which it jointly developed with the Hubei Province.

The Centre for Aviation (CAPA) said the hub is planned for capacity of 2.45 million tons of cargo by 2025 and rising to 3.3 million tons by 2030.