The Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In the first quarter of this year, Xiamen's air cargo volume reached a five-year high, with rapid growth in air passenger traffic.

In January, Xiamen opened a flight route to Paris, France. In February, a route to Manila, the Philippines was opened, and in March, a route to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam was opened. 

Xiamen has opened multiple cross-border cargo flight routes which will run for three months, further meeting the air transport needs of industries such as high-tech, cross-border e-commerce, and fresh cold chain, driving steady growth in airport cargo business volume.

The data shows that the cumulative cargo and mail throughput in Q1 was 87,700 metric tons, a year-on-year increase of 30.4 percent, a five-year high. Among them, the foreign cargo and mail throughput was 51,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 48.1 percent.

In terms of passenger transportation, the cumulative passenger volume in the first quarter reached 6.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 28.7 percent, with an average of 75,000 passengers per day. 

At the same time, driven by the visa-free policies for Chinese visitors from countries in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, the passenger volume on the Xiamen-Southeast Asia routes has significantly increased. In Q1, Xiamen Airport handled a total of 887,000 outbound passengers.

Xiamen Airport has established a diversified air cargo transportation system including an all-cargo aircraft, charter flights, and belly cargo on passenger flights. It has also built a route network connecting five continents, providing efficient air cargo services to stabilize and facilitate the development of the global industrial and supply chain.

Building on the expansion of routes in Q1, on April 2, new routes from Xiamen to Ontario, the United State and Xiamen to Dallas, USA have been added.