China's ambitious privately owned airlines seek to spread wings
With 6,000 aircraft seen hitting the market in coming years, China's private carriers are keen to enter sectordominated by state-held players
As the mainland opens up its skies, more privately owned airlines with international ambitions are revving up to alter a landscape dominated by state-owned legacy carriers.
Spring Airlines, which listed this year, is among the new players fuelling the demand for the more than 6,000 jets forecast to hit the market in coming years.
Chairman Wang Zhenghua, who founded the mainland's first budget airline a decade ago, is looking to the virgin territory of Russian Siberia after expanding in North Asia and Southeast Asia.
"We are seeking approval to start flying to Russia, hopefully from next year," company spokesman Zhang Wuan told the South China Morning Post. "We are looking at the Far East first, cities like Vladivostok and Yakutsk, which are only served by Russian airlines."
The company was planning to spend 300 million yuan (HK$380 million) over the next three years to equip all its planes with Wi-fi as part of a plan to raise 4.5 billion yuan through private placement, it said in a stock exchange announcement last week.
The addition of more than 10 international routes in the past year means Spring now has 10 aircraft based in five cities outside China - Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Jeju and Bangkok - giving it an international network befitting its status as Asia's largest budget airline by market value.
It also has a subsidiary overseas - the first for a Chinese airline - Spring Japan, which is still stuck in regulatory deadlock with the Japanese government over international flights. Zhang said Spring hoped to get the clearance this year and start flying from Tokyo to Chongqing and Wuhan.