[photopress:shenzhenairlines.jpg,full,alignright]Shenzhen Airlines and Mesa Air Group have signed an agreement to create a regional airline that will be China’s first Sino-foreign joint venture specializing in feeder airline service.
Shenzhen Airlines said the regional carrier would build a ‘highway in the air’ between China’s second-tier cities and connect them with the trunk lines. Regions yet to be specified.
The new airline is also the first joint-venture airline between China and the United States. It is expected to start operation before the end of next year.
There is RMB500 million ($64 million) registered capital and the new company will be 51 percent controlled by Shenzhen Airlines, 25 percent by Mesa and 24 percent by Wilmington Trust, a Delaware-based financial service provider.
The new airline will be the first overseas joint venture by Mesa, one of the leading regional airlines in the United States. Phoenix, Arizona-headquartered Mesa operates 188 regional jets and flies to 173 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The new carrier, whose name has not been decided yet, will initially have 20 to 50-seat regional jets and is expected to add 20 planes annually. Its goal is to become China’s largest regional carrier with 160 to 200 feeder jets, each having 50 to 90 seats.
Zhao Xiang, chairman of Shenzhen Airlines, said, ‘Developing regional aviation business will have a big impact on our goal to become an aviation group.’
Source: China Daily