Xiamen Airlines opened its eighth branch in Shanghai on Sept 19, a strategic tap into the Yangtze River Delta market and a way of helping to refresh the city's image as an international aviation hub. [Photo/VCG]

Xiamen Airlines opened its eighth branch in Shanghai on Sept 19, a strategic tap into the Yangtze River Delta market and a way of helping to refresh the city's image as an international aviation hub. 

Based in Xiamen in East China's Fujian province, the air service provider was the third domestic airline to set up a branch in Shanghai, following Air China and China Southern. 

The Shanghai branch will help increase the frequency of Xiamen Airlines' existing flights as well as opening new routes, with a particular focus on those connecting Shanghai and Fujian cities. 

Additional flights connecting Chengdu, Harbin, Kunming, Sanya and Urumqi have also been planned, expanding its aviation map to various major cities across China. 

International flights from Shanghai to Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, Europe and the United States are planned after 2020. 

The company now operates 48 daily flights to or from Shanghai, carrying over 2 million passengers every year to major domestic cities like Beijing, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Chongqing. 

It is planning to deploy 15 aircraft to Shanghai by 2020, with that figure being increased to 33 by 2025 and finally reaching 50 later on. It also plans to transport about 3.75 million passengers by 2020, which will be increased to over 7 million passengers by 2025.