(Yicai Global) Feb. 3 -- The Chinese city of Xiamen, the country’s fourth-biggest international airline hub, plans another round of subsidies to help spur the recovery in overseas air travel, with funds disbursed this time for new passenger routes through 2025.

The city in eastern Fujian province will grant CNY60,000 to CNY120,000 (USD8,895 and USD17,790) per flight, depending on travel distances, for new regular direct routes to Asian destinations, the local government said on Feb. 1. The annual subsidy cap was set at CNY10 million (USD1.48 million) per route, it added.

New regular intercontinental routes will get from CNY820,000 to about CNY1.1 million (USD121,600 to USD163,000), also based on travel distances, with a CNY110 million (USD16.3 million) annual subsidy limit on each route.

Xiamen, which has an export-orientated economy and is China’s fourth-largest international airline hub, attaches great importance to developing overseas air routes, offering support through many policies, The Paper reported yesterday, citing Lin Zhijie, a civil aviation expert.

The city’s latest financial assistance for the aviation sector follows a move last July to raise the subsidy cap for intercontinental cargo routes to CNY110 million from CNY84 million and that for Asian cargo routes to CNY50 million from CNY21 million.

China’s international air traffic has recovered to more than 10 percent of the level in 2019, Lin said, noting that this is an important period in the development of the country’s civil aviation market.

Xiamen’s high subsidies show that it intends to take advantage of the market opportunity after the easing of Covid-19 controls and build an international aviation hub to support its economic and trade recovery and development, Lin said.

Many regions in China have rolled out policies to subsidize new international flight routes in recent years, including Yunnan province, Fuzhou in Fujian province, and Haikou in Hainan province.

Editor: Martin Kadiev