China’s Fuzhou Airlines (FU, Fuzhou) has laid out its intentions to expand into intercontinental routes, quadruple its fleet size, and establish Fuzhou as a regional and international hub.

Fuzhou Airlines began operations in 2014 as a joint venture between HNA Group and the Fujian regional government. It is based at Fuzhou, which is located on China’s southeast coast, and currently serves twenty-six destinations in China and Taiwan. Given its proximity to Taiwan, Fuzhou is aiming to become the ‘air bridge’ between the mainland and the island and to develop cross-strait relations.

The scheduled carrier also hopes to expand into Europe and the United States in 2017, but has not outlined its exact routes. There are currently no direct flights from Fuzhou to Europe. China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) operates a daily Fuzhou – New York JFK flight.

Fuzhou recently took delivery of its tenth B737-800 and has ambitions for more than forty aircraft by 2020.