Spring Airlines (9C, Shanghai Hongqiao) founder and chairman, Chinese billionaire Wang Zhenghua, says his airline is in talks with both Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and Boeing (BOE, Washington National) over a possible order for as many as 30 aircraft. Speaking to Bloomberg news, Wang said the order would also include options for 30 additional airframes.
Aviation analysts believe any potential deal will be skewed in favour of the Europeans as the Chinese LCC, which also operates a Japanese subsidiary, Spring Airlines Japan (Tokyo Narita), is currently an all-Airbus operator taking delivery of its fiftieth A320-200, B-1672 (cn 6358), on February 11.
Overall, the budget carrier is looking to double its fleet to 100 aircraft by 2018 in line with anticipated strong demand in the Chinese domestic and regional market. Wang added that Spring will focus on short- and medium-haul operations for the next five years before turning its attention to long-haul flights sometime after 2020.
Founded in 2005, Spring Airlines offers extensive coverage of China as well as flights to Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Macau, Taiwan, Cambodia, and Singapore. In January, it held a successful IPO on the Shanghai bourse raising CNY1.8 billion (USD290 million) in fresh capital through the sale of a 25% stake in its total shareholding.
