Travelers contemplating taking a holiday in China usually search for flights to Beijing or Shanghai. But maybe they should check out the fares to some of China's big secondary cities, such as Chengdu, Wuhan and Xiamen, where local governments are covering part of the tab. Boeing 787-8s now being delivered to Xiamen Airlines are tools not for lifting the bottom line of the airline, which is partly owned by the city, but for lifting the local economy. This explains why the carrier ordered only six, too few for an economical operation if the object is profit but a good number for beginning to open intercontinental routes for their own sake.
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