The first attempt to export cargo through Shenzhen will be made this evening when an Air China plane from Beijing will load freight trucked in from Hong Kong.
The Boeing 747-200, the first to use Shenzhen Airport since special measures were introduced last weekend, will fly to the United States tomorrow. A Korean Air plane, expected on Thursday, will be the second to use the contingency plan.
A Shenzhen Airport taskforce will work around the clock to ensure speedy loading and unloading and quick clearances.
Airport spokesman Zhang Dingyu said 100 extra workers had been deployed with an extra 20 cranes and deck-loaders, although they had been left idle for a week as no one had applied to use Shenzhen airport initially.
'We attach much importance to helping Hong Kong. Our manpower can now handle about 800 tonnes of cargo a day,' he said.
The new arrangements, hastily worked out between Hong Kong and mainland officials last Wednesday, include simplified checks at Shenzhen's Futian checkpoint.
The taskforce claims trucks could clear border checks in just one minute.