Shenzhen Airlines and Mesa Airlines are planning rapid expansion for their new joint venture Chinese regional carrier.
Kunpeng Airlines launched services in late September with two Bombardier CRJ200s. Mesa chief executive Jonathan Ornstein says Mesa hopes to send another six of its CRJ200s to Kunpeng by year-end and have 20 in China by the next summer's Olympics, pending Civil Aviation Administration of China approval.
Kunpeng's expansion is being "metered by the CAAC" but "it has been very supporting" of Kunpeng, allowing it to launch only nine months after the JV was created. China for several years has been trying to promote regional aviation and in October the CAAC announced a new subsidy scheme for certain flights under 600km. Ornstein says Kunpeng's initial operation does not qualify because it is initially flying to larger cities, but it plans to later serve several rural airports that currently have little or no service: "That's our game plan. We plan to develop services where we can get some assistance."
Source: Airline Business
