Prestwick in Talks for Nanjing Cargo Route as China Network Tops 20 Weekly Flights

Glasgow Prestwick Airport already runs more than twenty scheduled cargo services to China each week, and it is now negotiating a fifth direct link — this time to Nanjing Lukou International Airport, targeted for next year.

The talks took place at a meeting in Nanjing attended by Prestwick chief executive Jules Matteoni, regional director Colin Dai, and Ma Shiguang, vice governor of the People's Government of Jiangsu Province, alongside local officials. The provincial government confirmed at the meeting that it backs a new route between the two airports.

That endorsement matters. Provincial support in China has historically been the difference between a route that launches and one that stays in the slide deck.

Prestwick did not name a potential operator. Talks will continue on the commercial and operational requirements of the proposed freighter service, with details on the carrier and launch schedule expected in the coming months.

What does this change for UK shippers?

For now, nothing concrete — no slots, no aircraft, no rates. But the direction of travel is clear, and it points toward more direct China–Scotland capacity for exporters currently routing freight through hubs further south.

Matteoni described China as an increasingly important part of the airport's cargo network. He said a direct link with Nanjing would broaden the options for businesses moving goods between the United Kingdom and one of China's largest provincial economies.

"We are working with partners in Jiangsu on a route intended to support long-term demand, reinforce trade links and generate economic opportunities at both ends," the airport said, with Matteoni adding that the partnership aims to anchor cargo flows for years rather than seasons.

Dai framed the case in supply-chain terms. Each new connection into China gives exporters another way to reach customers and supply chains more directly, he said, pointing to Jiangsu's substantial manufacturing base as the cargo engine behind the proposal.

His read: there is a clear opportunity to build stronger flows in both directions while improving access to the Chinese market for businesses in Scotland and across the UK. Jiangsu, for context, sits near the top of China's provincial economic league — the sort of catchment that generates freight rather than chasing it.

A busy year of China building

The Nanjing negotiation is not a lone bet. Prestwick has spent the past year stacking Chinese connections with unusual speed:

• September: Air China Cargo opened a new route between Ürümqi Tianshan International Airport and Prestwick.
• May: the carrier said it would begin a scheduled freighter service from Shanghai Pudong International to Prestwick.
• Earlier this year: Prestwick signed a memorandum of understanding with Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport to support stronger China–UK trade.

The airport now flies directly to Ürümqi, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shanghai on its existing schedule — a network that already gives Scottish exporters a reasonable set of China options before Nanjing enters the picture.

Adding Nanjing would deepen that map into the Yangtze delta's manufacturing heartland. For forwarders, a fifth gateway means more routing choices and, potentially, less dependence on London-area capacity when Chinese e-commerce and industrial freight surges.

The open question is the operator. Prestwick has Air China Cargo flying two of its existing China routes, and Guangzhou Baiyun as an MoU partner, but the airport has named no carrier for Nanjing. Until it does, the 2026 target date remains a schedule written in pencil — expect carrier and launch details, or their absence, to tell the real story in the coming months.