Wuxi officially controls Ruili Airlines with a 57% stake holding

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

Wuxi Transportation Industry Group has recently formally controlled Ruili Airlines, holding 57% of the shares. The original major shareholder Jingcheng Group's shareholding ratio has dropped from 70% to 13%. Ruili Airlines was approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in May 2013 and launched operations in May 2014. As of the end of June 2020, a total of 20 aircrafts and 74 routes were operated, and Ruili Airlines' route network covered 43 domestic and foreign cities. According to WIND data, it has a registered capital of 1 billion RMB and its main operating base is established at Kunming Changshui International Airport. On 4 August 2020, Wuxi Transportation Group and Yunnan Jingcheng Group, the controlling shareholder of Yunnan Ruili Aviation Co., Ltd., signed an equity transfer framework agreement to formally initiate the acquisition of a controlling stake in Ruili Airlines. As a national transportation hub city, owning a local airline is of special significance for Wuxi to accelerate the development of an aviation hub and achieve high-quality development of the hub economy. It will also fill the gap in Jiangsu's air transportation enterprises.