China National Aviation Corp (CNAC) has postponed the April 1 launch date for its tentatively named China Hongkong Airlines, sources close to the company say.
Citing delays in receiving technical approval from Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department (CAD), the sources said a June start for charter services to and from China was a more realistic target.
The main reason for the delay involves changes to documents sent to the CAD for an Air Operators' Certificate - the first step in setting up such an airline.
Its name had not yet been approved by the company's Beijing owners, a livery had not been finalised and a number of engineering staff still needed to be hired, the sources said.
CNAC, controlled by the regulatory Civil Aviation Administration of China, applied for its Hong Kong Government certificate on March 29 last year and approval was expected to have been granted earlier this year for an April 1 launch.
Its managers had said they hoped registration would allow the airline to compete on routes to China and other international destinations dominated by Cathay Pacific Airways and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines (Dragonair).
The company originally applied to start services with a wide-body Airbus Industrie A300-600R, but later changed to a narrow-body Boeing 737-500 as there were many on the British civil aviation registry, which Hong Kong bases many of its rules on.