OREANDA-NEWS.   A Boeing 747 lands at Hefei Xinqiao International Airport in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, August 22, 2013.

The much-anticipated flight from Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, to German Frankfurt is expected to be launched later this year, as a plane likely to fly on the route arrived at the Hefei Xinqiao International Airport on Thursday.

Made in American Atlas Air Inc, the all-cargo Boeing 747 can be loaded with a maximum of 116 tons, with a seating capacity of about 400 passengers. It reached Hefei yesterday afternoon after a 15 hours' journey from Denver International Airport.

The aircraft is one of the two candidates for the Hefei- Frankfurt route, for which Xinqiao is negotiating with the Beijing-based carrier: Air China, said Hu Jianjun, managing director of the airport. If the flight starts being available before the end of this year as scheduled, it will become the first ever to be operated to Europe by a Hefei-based airline, the manager said.

Never have planes as large as the Boeing 747 landed at the city's airport, whether it being the abandoned Luogang or the in-service Xinqiao. "Now, the Xinqiao airport can handle all types of aircrafts except A380," a source with the Anhui Civil Aviation Airport Group Co.said.

Xinqiao is also fit for test flights of big planes, and that will emerge as a new business for the airport, Hu said.

Opened on May 30, 2013, Xinqiao replaced Luogang Airport as Hefei's main airport.