With the Beijing Olympics less than a year away, South Korea's relatively small Asiana Airlines is seeking to use its extensive network into China to become the carrier of choice for Olympics attendees.

As major international airlines scramble for their shares in the world's fastest-growing air travel market, Asiana is flying to more cities in China than any other airline and have been using its network to draw more U.S. passengers traveling to the country.

At Los Angeles International Airport, Asiana is enticing U.S. business travelers with a new 1,350 square-meter lounge it is sharing with its Star Alliance airline partners. The lounge, complete with showers, bars, plush armchairs and a food buffet, is open to its first- and business-class passengers.

The airline is also looking to introduce other Chinese destinations to people who will be visiting China for the first time to attend the Beijing Games, which opens in August 2008.

"In terms of China, we are the market leader," Asiana president Kang Joo-an was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times on Oct. 19. "Though competition is fierce, we believe we have the most-convenient network and best service to China."

With demand for flying from the United States to China on the rise, American carriers currently fly only to major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and traveling to other cities in China requires a stopover and transferring to a Chinese domestic carrier.

Kang said U.S. passengers flying on Asiana can make a stopover at South Korea's Incheon International Airport, then catch another flight to any of the 20 cities in China it serves.

Asiana currently operates four daily nonstops between Los Angeles and Incheon but is looking to add more flights before the Beijing Olympics.

But the airline faces stiff competition in the China market from some of the world's largest carriers, which have the financial resources to match.

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways recently acquired Dragonair, a regional carrier in Asia that serves more than a dozen cities in China, and Asiana's archrival Korean Air also plans to add 12 routes to China next year, making China its "second home market."

Meanwhile, U.S. carriers have been adding a limited number of nonstops to China under a new U.S.-China agreement.

However, Asiana said it was unfazed by the challenges, stressing its extensive flight network in China and its award-winning onboard service as ways to distinguish itself from larger competitors.

Founded in 1988, Asiana began in 1994 to focus on China, a market that few other airlines in Asia seemed to be paying much attention to at that time, partly to survive the dominance of its home market by well-established Korean Air.

With a flight network more extensive than any other foreign airline operating in China, Asiana's strategy to quietly add routes to cities throughout China in the past decade seems to have paid off.