More travelers flying overseas from Chengdu

An increasing number of people are taking international flights from Chengdu as the city seeks a more global presence.

Latest data from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport show that the passenger load for flights from Chengdu to London and Amsterdam stayed beyond 90 percent from Jan 1 to 10.

Recent years have witnessed an increase in international air routes from Chengdu.

Since 2011, the city has opened 11 international passenger flights that connect it to cities such as Tokyo, Hanoi, Melbourne, London and Frankfurt. The number of international routes had increased to 71 by the end of last year.

On June 11, a non-stop air route between Chengdu and Chicago will open, the first from the region to America.

New routes linking Chengdu to other international cities including Istanbul, Moscow, Paris and Dubai are also planned.

By 2015, Chengdu plans to build itself into an international aviation hub with 36 direct international routes carrying 50 million passengers a year.

The Shuangliu airport handled 33.4 million passengers last year, ranking fourth in China in passenger volume.

Chengdu is the first western Chinese city to adopt a 72-hour visa-free policy, which allows transit passengers from 51 countries with a flight ticket to a third country to stay up to 72 hours.

The city government is working to attract visitors with the visa-free policy.