Air China Ltd, the nation's largest international carrier, will add routes and staff as the 2008 Olympic Games fuel demand for travel to its hub, Beijing.

Air China will operate more flights to the UK, France and Russia, as well as to the US, Senior Vice President Zhang Lan said in an interview in Beijing. It's also applying to add a route to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.

The Beijing-based carrier plans to move all operations to a new terminal at Beijing Capital International Airport, set to open in March. The terminal, Asia's largest, will be dedicated to Air China and its domestic and overseas partners, according to the airline. Beijing may receive 1.7 million visitors for the Olympics, including 1.1 million domestic travelers, according to the city's Olympic organizing committee.

"The larger new terminal will make it easier for Air China to add flights," said Jack Xu, a Shanghai-based analyst at Sinopac Securities Asia Ltd. "The new terminal guarantees space."

The carrier aims to boost its market share in Beijing to at least 50 percent from the current 44 percent after the move. It will add several hundred support staff and recruit volunteers to help serve Olympic visitors, Zhang said.

Air China also plans to join the Star Alliance, the world's largest airline grouping, by the end of this year, allowing it to sell tickets on partners' international routes. About 60 percent of Air China's sales come from domestic flights and the rest from international routes.

"Network expansion may help boost Air China's profit," Zhang said on July 20.