It was established as a joint venture between the Shanghai Administration of Civil Aviation Administration of China, Xiamen Special Economic Zone Construction Development Company (now Xiamen C&D Group) and Fujian Investment Enterprise Company.

From December 5 of the same year, first commercial flight between Xiamen and Taipei took off and landed at Gaoqi Airport.

[14] For the next 33 years, Xiamen's aviation industry was disrupted and Gaoqi Airport was abandoned after a brief period of military use.

[13] After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xiamen was in a state of war for a long time and had no civil aviation airport of its own because of its location on the front of the Taiwan Strait.

On January 10, 1982, the Central Military Commission and the State Council approved the construction of Xiamen Gaoqi Airport.

At the opening ceremony of Xiamen Airport, Zhang Ru, Vice Governor of Fujian Province Government, proposed to Shen Tu, Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), who attended the opening ceremony, that the CAAC and Fujian Province cooperate to establish an airline company, and received support on the spot.

Immediately afterwards, the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee assigned Vice Governor Zhang Ru and Vice Mayor of Xiamen City Xiang Zhen to work with Director Wang Dao of the Planning Department of CAAC to study the establishment of an airline company.

[15][18] On January 10, 1984, the Xiamen Municipal Government drafted the "Conceptual Plan and Opinions on Sino-foreign Joint Venture to Operate China Xiamen Special Zone United Airlines Co. Ltd." On January 25, representatives from Fujian Province and Xiamen City went to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for project report, mentioning that priority would be given to joint undertakings by CAAC and Fujian Province as long as aircraft and funds were guaranteed.

[19][17] Xiamen Airlines has made innovative breakthroughs in corporate organization, operation and management, and transportation services.

At the time of its establishment, Xiamen Airlines was positioned as an independently accounted, self-financing limited liability company.

In 1989, reforms were made to the organization, personnel management, labor distribution, housing system, medical insurance, employee benefits, etc.

[17] In 1991, the General Administration of Civil Aviation (GACA) approved Xiamen Airlines to adopt "Blue Sky and White Heron" as its corporate logo.

In the same year, the Civil Aviation Administration separated the government and enterprises and established China Southern Airlines, and the shares held by the Civil Aviation Guangzhou Administration were transferred to China Southern Airlines.

[22]On July 25, 2012, Xiamen Airlines changed its VI logo for the first time from "Blue Sky with White Heron" to "One Heron Flying High" and the aircraft painting theme was changed from "Reform Music" to "Sea and Sky".

[36][37][38][39] As of January 2025[update], XiamenAir operates the following aircraft:[40][37][38][39] XiamenAir has previously operated the following aircraft:[citation needed] Currently, Xiamen Airlines provides first-class services with business-class seats on domestic routes in China as usual.