China to Establish Three Airline GroupsChina is to establish three large airline groups, based on its top three airlines -- Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, according to an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) July 21.Xia Xinghua, director of the department of policy and regulation of CAAC, said that the three new groups will involve the ten airlines administered by the CAAC, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Northern Airlines and Yunnan Airlines. In addition to the ten companies, China has 24 local airlines. According to Xia, the three groups expect to have assets worth more than 40 billion yuan each, and almost equal market shares, which will be conducive to healthy competition among them. He added that there is no timetable for the formation of the groups, but "the faster the better". |
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