Martinair begins flying to Xiamen

DUTCH air carrier Martinair has started flying between Amsterdam and Xiamen.

The Fujian city is the airline's third mainland destination after Nanjing and Tianjin, Xinhua reports.

After departing Amsterdam the weekly flight stops at Sharjah, UAE, and then heads to Tianjin, Xiamen, Bangkok, and flies back to Sharjah and Amsterdam.

Demand for air transport between Xiamen and Europe has been rising dramatically in recent years, the report said. During the first half of this year, exports to Europe handled by the Xiamen airport rose by 38.8 per cent over the same period in 2006.