China Eastern Airlines’s (CEA) president Cao Jinxiong said on Sunday that government shareholders in his company and Shanghai Airlines (SA) are discussing a merger of the two carriers, the Wall Street Journal reported. He said that the government plans to inject capital into CEA before merging it with SA, at which point the combined entity would consider a possible stake sale to Singapore Airlines. "Both [deals], with Shanghai Airlines and Singapore Airlines are possible. But for sure the merger with Shanghai Airlines will take place before a possible stake sale with Singapore Airlines," Cao was quoted as saying. CEA last year agreed to sell a 24% stake to Singapore Airlines and Temasek Holdings, but the deal fell through.
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