A New Sino-German Cargo Airline

Parchim airport is currently not used regularly -- but not for very much longer explained Karin Stanz, the chairwoman of the airport's governing body: "Parchim Airport has been given the kiss of life," she said. "Today is the inauguration of the regular cargo airline. Hopefully, our expectations and plans will come true."

The first cargo aircraft was on its way to Parchim, Stanz explained. It had taken off from Zhengzhou in southern China and was carrying a tractor, a load of sports shoes, electric equipment, and a lot of plastic toys -- 160 tonnes in total. From now on, such aircraft are expected to be landing in Parchim more often -- at least three times a week.

Jonathan Pang Yuling is the man who made all this happen. He is the owner of the Beijing-based logistics company Link Global. He bought the Parchim airport for 30 million euros in May. Mr Pang is the first Chinese citizen to have an operating licence for a European airport.

Good business opportunity

"You can make money from an airport. The airport will have a lot of business. The freight itself, as well as cargo storage will bring in money. Secondly, we can use the land for other purposes such as building warehouses and depots. It is a good business opportunity."

Mr Pang has already erected a sign which reads: "Welcome to the Parchim International Airport". The runway is 3,000 metres long, meaning that even a huge Airbus A280 can land here. The airport's location is also ideal -- an hour from Hamburg and an hour-and-a-half from Berlin. The harbour cities of Rostock and Wismar are also nearby.

Until now, the airport has only brought trouble to the locals -- since the Red Army left, the upkeep has amounted to about 55 million euros.

New jobs perhaps?

"It has taken a load off our minds," said Klaus-Jürgen Iredi, the district administrator. "We hope that it will bring economic development. We especially hope that the project will create new jobs."

In Parchim, the unemployment rate lies at around 15 percent. A few locals have already addressed job applications to Pang.

A group of Chinese ministers from central China and German ministers from Schwerin came to watch the landing of the first cargo aircraft. The aircraft had been delayed because it had to land in Baku, Azerbaijan first -- the cargo was too heavy and the aircraft had to refuel.

Mr Pang did not think this was a problem at all because "the aircraft can land at any time" as long as the airport runs 24 hours. This incident therefore showed "the advantages of the airport."