Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
XiamenAir, which celebrates its 30th Anniversary in July 2014, has signed a purchasing deal of a 99.23 per cent stake in Hebei Airlines, the northern Chinese airline founded by the aviation-inexperienced Jizhong Energy Group in Shijiazhuang, on 16 July 2014. It leaves the balance stake to Shenyang Zhongrui Company Limited the parent company of Northeast Airlines, the previous identity of Hebei Airlines.
However, as of 20 July today, XiamenAir declines to comment on how it actually intends to restructure the loss-suffering Hebei Airlines.
Aviation industry observers comment that XiamenAir aims to expand its market share in the northern Chinese market with assistance from Hebei Airlines since it does not have enough slots at the already-saturated Beijing Capital International Airport. Once the new Beijing airport goes into operation in a few years' time, Hebei Airlines will be one of the main airlines operating in the new airport. Currently, XiamenAir has a branch company in Beijing.
On the contrary, a Chinese journalist of Straits City Press reported yesterday that the majority shareholder in XiamenAir, China Southern Airlines Group Company Limited, has the majority say in the way Hebei Airlines will be managed.
A sales manager of China Southern commented that Hebei Airlines may go the LCC way, meaning that it may return to the low-cost model that its predecessor Northeast Airlines operated under but this time with the support of the full-service airlines XiamenAir and China Southern to counter competition from 9 Air, the proposed low-cost subsidiary of Juneyao Airlines based in Guangzhou, China United Airlines in Beijing-Nanyuan and Spring Airlines in Shijiazhuang.
China Southern holds the majority stake of 51 per cent in XiamenAir while Jizhong Energy Group has a 1.46 billion yuan stake (15 per cent) in XiamenAir. The remaining stake in XiamenAir belongs to Xiamen Jianfa Group.
If China Southern would not intervene in the restructuring process of Hebei Airlines, Hebei Airlines will be the second Chinese airline to be restructured as a subsidiary of Xiamen Airlines, after Fujian Airlines, since 1994.
Hebei Airlines started flight operations on 29 June 2010 with Northeast Airlines EMB145 aircraft initially on routes from Shijiazhuang to Qinhuangdao, Guilin, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hohhot. In October 2010, it leased 2 Boeing B737-700 aircraft and later 1 B737-800 aircraft from Xiamen Airlines. Flights are almost handled by Xiamen Airlines' cabin crew, operated by Xiamen Airlines' pilots, and these aircraft maintained by Xiamen Airlines' technicians and engineers.
To date, Hebei Airlines has many flights originating from Fuzhou and Xiamen among its more than 40 weekly flights in China operated with a fleet of 1 Airbus A320-200 aircraft, 2 ERJ-145 aircraft and the Boeing jets to cities such as Guiyang, Xi'An, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Dalian. It plans to begin international flights to Hong Kong, Macau , Taipei and as far as Tokyo and Seoul-Incheon from Shijiazhuang from 2015.
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
XiamenAir, which celebrates its 30th Anniversary in July 2014, has signed a purchasing deal of a 99.23 per cent stake in Hebei Airlines, the northern Chinese airline founded by the aviation-inexperienced Jizhong Energy Group in Shijiazhuang, on 16 July 2014. It leaves the balance stake to Shenyang Zhongrui Company Limited the parent company of Northeast Airlines, the previous identity of Hebei Airlines.
However, as of 20 July today, XiamenAir declines to comment on how it actually intends to restructure the loss-suffering Hebei Airlines.
Aviation industry observers comment that XiamenAir aims to expand its market share in the northern Chinese market with assistance from Hebei Airlines since it does not have enough slots at the already-saturated Beijing Capital International Airport. Once the new Beijing airport goes into operation in a few years' time, Hebei Airlines will be one of the main airlines operating in the new airport. Currently, XiamenAir has a branch company in Beijing.
On the contrary, a Chinese journalist of Straits City Press reported yesterday that the majority shareholder in XiamenAir, China Southern Airlines Group Company Limited, has the majority say in the way Hebei Airlines will be managed.
A sales manager of China Southern commented that Hebei Airlines may go the LCC way, meaning that it may return to the low-cost model that its predecessor Northeast Airlines operated under but this time with the support of the full-service airlines XiamenAir and China Southern to counter competition from 9 Air, the proposed low-cost subsidiary of Juneyao Airlines based in Guangzhou, China United Airlines in Beijing-Nanyuan and Spring Airlines in Shijiazhuang.
China Southern holds the majority stake of 51 per cent in XiamenAir while Jizhong Energy Group has a 1.46 billion yuan stake (15 per cent) in XiamenAir. The remaining stake in XiamenAir belongs to Xiamen Jianfa Group.
If China Southern would not intervene in the restructuring process of Hebei Airlines, Hebei Airlines will be the second Chinese airline to be restructured as a subsidiary of Xiamen Airlines, after Fujian Airlines, since 1994.
Hebei Airlines started flight operations on 29 June 2010 with Northeast Airlines EMB145 aircraft initially on routes from Shijiazhuang to Qinhuangdao, Guilin, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hohhot. In October 2010, it leased 2 Boeing B737-700 aircraft and later 1 B737-800 aircraft from Xiamen Airlines. Flights are almost handled by Xiamen Airlines' cabin crew, operated by Xiamen Airlines' pilots, and these aircraft maintained by Xiamen Airlines' technicians and engineers.
To date, Hebei Airlines has many flights originating from Fuzhou and Xiamen among its more than 40 weekly flights in China operated with a fleet of 1 Airbus A320-200 aircraft, 2 ERJ-145 aircraft and the Boeing jets to cities such as Guiyang, Xi'An, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Dalian. It plans to begin international flights to Hong Kong, Macau , Taipei and as far as Tokyo and Seoul-Incheon from Shijiazhuang from 2015.
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