At 10:20 am on April 15, an Air China Cargo B747-400 freighter aircraft took off from Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport heading to Frankfurt, Germany, via Shanghai's Pudong International Airport. The flight marked the official opening of Air China Cargo's freighter flights from Dalian to Frankfurt. Air China Cargo is the first airline in Dalian to offer cargo flights to Europe. With Air China Cargo's network, cargo in Dalian can also be effectively transported to North America, Japan, the Asia Pacific and other locations. Prior to the plane taking off, representatives from Air China and the Dalian government held a brief ceremony to commemorate the route's first flight.

Through positive communication and close partnership between Air China Cargo and the Dalian municipal government, as well as strong support from Dalian Airport, Customs, and Commodity Inspections, the freight capacity shortage problem between Dalian and Europe was able to be resolved through the opening of Air China Cargo's Dalian-Shanghai-Frankfurt freighter route. The route is to be flown three times a week by B747-400 cargo planes that fly out every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The successful opening of the Dalian-Frankfurt route will further consolidate Air China Cargo's status as the largest cargo carrier between China and Europe, as well as optimize the carrier's network in northeast Asia and enhance its market competitiveness.

Located at the intersection of the Northeast Asian Economic Circle and Bohai Economic Circle, Dalian is an important industrial base in northern China, and is also an important foreign trade port and the northeast region's largest shipment transportation hub. Europe and Japan account for a large proportion of Dalian's air cargo market. However, due to the lack of local wide-body freighter capacity, much of the cargo bound for the Americas and Europe have to first be transported by truck to Beijing or Tianjin; or be shipped to South Korea before being loaded onto planes. That method of cargo transportation not only wastes time but is also very risky and decreases the shipping efficiency of local goods.