HSBC Bank USA has added another major U. S. airport to the list of 50 such sites at which it will prominently display its brand on jet bridges.

The U. S. subsidiary of HSBC Holdings Plc of London said Wednesday that it reached a five-year contract with Los Angeles International Airport, better known as LAX, to plaster its name and advertising across the interior and exterior of 17 jet bridges at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

The bridges, which link the planes to the terminals for boarding, will display the bank’s “Values” global advertising campaign. LAX is the seventh- busiest airport in the world, with more than 59 million travelers in 2009.

HSBC Group has had a presence in California since 1866, and HSBC Bank USA now has 33 branches in the state, including 20 in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas.

HSBC, one of the world’s biggest banks, operates 8,500 offices in 86 countries and territories in Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. HSBC Bank USA, formerly Marine Midland Bank, has a statewide branch network in New York State and is the largest bank in Buffalo.

But its national strategy now calls for targeting niche ethnic and international communities to which it has appeal, including Asians and Hispanics. The bank has expanded nationally by opening more branches in California, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Washington State.

HSBC began the concept of jet bridge advertising in 2001 at London’s Heathrow Airport and has since expanded it to 50 airports in 23 countries, including JFK International Airport and LaGuardia International Airport in New York City, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Toronto Pearson International Airport, as well as airports in Vancouver, Miami, Sydney, Beijing, Shanghai, Athens and Tokyo.