The Hefei municipal government recently signed a contract with China Joy Air Corporation to set up Hefei Airlines. Its maiden flight is planned for the end of 2013. More routes will be available in the future.

Overall passenger flow volume in Hefei Airport was 5.2 million in 2012. Train passenger flow volume reached 20 million, making it one of the top 10 busiest stations in China. Arriving passengers broke 300,000 in the same year.

The passenger throughput of Hefei Airport broke three million, four million, and five million in the last three years, respectively, increasing at a rate higher than the national average.

The Hefei municipal government and China Joy Air Corporation signed a contract and officially established Hefei Airlines on January 20, 2013. Three airplanes from Hefei Airlines will take off from the newly-built Xinqiao Airport at the end of 2013. Hefei Airlines plans to have 30 airplanes and 50 to 70 routes open by 2020. Joy Air plans to open the Hefei-Huangshan-Fuzhou route in the middle of 2013.

It's possible for Hefei Airlines to open regional air routes like Hefei-Yiwu. There are no current plans to open routes to cities conveniently located near bullet train strations, such as Nanjing and Wuhan. Joyair has opened routes from Anhui to Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Taiyuan, Xi'an, Nanchang and Lianyungang.

This is only the first step to opening routes to surrounding cities. Hefei Airlines will open routes to big domestic cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. International routes are also under consideration.