Xiamen has become one of the important international aviation hubs in China. [Photo/xmnn.cn]

The number of passengers travelling through Xiamen airport was more than 10 million, a 5.59 percent increase year-on-year in the first five months of 2018, according to the management committee of Xiamen airports.

Out of these passengers, 1.55 million flew to other countries and regions, up by 13.75 percent year-on-year.

Xiamen now ranks fourth in China in the number of intercontinental routes after recent efforts to open more such routes, the head of the management committee said.

The top three Chinese cities are Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

A total of eight intercontinental routes are now available in the coastal city and a non-stop flight to Paris, France is expected to be launched by the end of this year.

The increasing numbers of international and regional routes have made Xiamen an important international aviation hub.

Tens of thousands of passengers now transfer through the city's airport each month, which makes it the third biggest airport in China in terms of passengers transferring to Australia and fourth biggest for passengers to transfer to Southeast Asia and North America.

Such an increase in international and regional routes has also expanded the city's foreign trade. Some 141,800 tons of cargo were handled by Xiamen airport in the first five months of the year, of which 51,500 tons are carried through international and regional routes, an increase of eight percent year-on-year.

Xiamen is home to 44 airlines with 177 air routes connecting to 121 cities at home and abroad, 35 of which are international and regional routes. In addition to Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport, another international airport, Xiamen Xiang'an, is currently under construction.