Officials in Xiamen, China, have introduced a series of financial incentives designed to attract new air services in a bid to increase the city’s international connections and boost regional tourism.
The initiative by the Xiamen Municipal Transportation Bureau became effective Feb. 1 and runs through 2025. Local government officials devised the package in consultation with stakeholders including China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Air.
Intercontinental scheduled flights to Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN) are being offered the highest subsidies, between CNY820,000 ($122,000) to CNY1.06 million per flight, capped at CNY110 million annually.
Routes within Asia can receive a subsidy of CNY60,000-120,000 per flight, capped at CNY10 million annually per route.
Chartered or unscheduled flights will receive a fifth of the subsdies that scheduled flights are entitled to.
CAPA/OAG data shows the average flight length from Xiamen is 3 hr. 16 min. Xiamen’s current top four international destinations are in order Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Australia.
Despite the difficult operating conditions faced by Chinese airports throughout the pandemic, Xiamen Airport is the country’s only listed airport that expects to record a profit for 2022, which it estimates will fall in the range of CNY21-31 million.
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