COMAC (Shanghai Pudong) is reportedly considering partnering the Jilin Province local government in the establishment of a new budget carrier which will use Changchun as its hub. Liu Jianxin, the deputy secretary of the party committee of Jilin Civil Airports Group, told China's WCARN news portal that government intends to use the airline to boost Changchun's overall profile.
The airline would make use of the airport's new multi-billion yuan passenger terminal which is currently under construction. At present, the airport is a base to only one carrier - China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) - though airport authorities are in talks with Shenzhen Airlines (ZH, Shenzhen) and Qingdao Airlines (QW, Qingdao Jiaodong) for them to establish their own respective base operations there.
Meanwhile, bureaucrats in Zhejiang Province are also considering setting up their own budget carrier which would use Ningbo as a hub. In a bid to stimulate demand, the Ningbo local government says it wants to develop the airport into an LCC hub offering domestic flights as well as regional services. Given its less than ideal geographic location, the eastern Chinese city has been largely overlooked by local airlines which have preferred to use neighbouring Hangzhou, Shanghai Hongqiao, and Shanghai Pudong instead.
