China Southern airline buy-up approved

Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines announced that its independent shareholders had approved a RMB1.9bn (US$230m) purchase of two regional airlines from its parent company. The airline, China's largest in terms of fleet size, said the acquisition of China Southern Airlines Northern and Xinjiang Airlines had been approved at a shareholders' meeting on Friday. The purchase will increase China Southern's fleet to 214 planes, from 139 at the end of June, and enable China Southern to extend its service to the country's northeast and northwest.