China Eastern Airlines is going to increase its fleet size to 322 by 2010.

With 190 planes at present, the nation's third-largest carrier will increase its fleet an average of 12.8 percent annually in the next five years.

Intending to increase market share in Shanghai, the company also plans to improve coverage in western and southern China and focus on operation centers in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province and Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province respectively.

The operation center in Kunming will also cover flights to Southeast Asia and South Asia. Moreover, the carrier will open a route from Shanghai to Frankfurt, Germany, by the end of this year, and is arranging to open a route from Shanghai to New York in the future. China Eastern now operates 77 international routes.

"As a strategic partner of World Expo 2010, our financial support for the event is almost the same as the China airline's offer to the 2008 Olympics," said Luo Chaogeng, the company's vice president. "Yet we are not expecting to gain much profit from the expo. We want to grab this golden opportunity to improve our management and to publicize our brand to the world."

China Eastern became the first partner of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo on March 14. The partnership authorizes the Shanghai-based carrier to provide passenger flight services for the event between May 1 and October 31, 2010. The expo is expected to draw 70 million visitors.

More than one airplane painted with the logo and theme of the expo will be put into service during the event.