On February 26, 2009, a formal ceremony marking the establishment of Air China Shanghai Branch Company was held at the Shanghai Marriott Hotel Hongqiao, which was officiated by Kong Dong, general manager of China National Aviation Holding Company and chairman of Air China Limited, Xia Xinghua, head of East-China Regional Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and Tan Zhihong, party secretary of Air China Limited, sources told CARNOC.com.

It's understood by CARNOC.com that other high-profile officials and managers of CAAC East-China Regional Bureau, CAAC East-China Regional Air Traffic Management Bureau and Shanghai Airport Authority were in attendance while some CIPs, travel trade representatives and media reporters also attended the event at the invitation of Air China.

A number of high-level officials at Air China informed CARNOC.com that while the airline had always been very keen in expanding its local presence in the fast-growing Shanghai market in the past but it also saw the growing need to integrate its operations across the east-China region, and that's arguably one of the key motives behind the expansion of the carrier's existing Shanghai Base into a branch company.

According to internal information gathered by CARNOC.com, Air China Shanghai Branch Company will not only look after all of the airline's operations in Shanghai but also oversee its sales offices in Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wenzhou, Hefei, Ningbo and Wuxi. In 2009, the agenda will be focused on improving services in regard to premium passengers, luggage and transit while speeding up sales and service integration in the region via interdependent sales policies, fully integrated e-commerce and call centre services.

At present, Air China operates 24 Shanghai-originated routes to 11 domestic, 1 regional and 12 international destinations while an average of 72 daily flights are operated at both Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Last year, the airline handled close to 4.6 million passengers in Shanghai.

Photograph: Air China Shanghai Branch Company was unveiled by Kong Dong (right), general manager of China National Aviation Holding Company and chairman of Air China Limited and Xia Xinghua (left), head of East-China Regional Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), on February 26, 2009. Photographer: Wang Zemin.