China United Airlines (KN, Beijing Daxing International) is set to commence international operations once its secures approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to do so. CAPA reports the carrier applied to the regulatory body in January for permission to operate regional (Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) and international services around Asia from its bases at Beijing Nanyuan and Shenzhen.
The move comes against the backdrop of the China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) subsidiary's transformation from a full service carrier into a budget airline, completed at the end of last month. Using a fleet of three A319-100s, nine B737-700s and twenty-two B737-800s, China United's network consists of fifty-three largely secondary cities throughout China.
According to the report, the choice of Beijing Nanyuan airport, a former military field, and Shenzhen is astute as the former currently has no international services while the latter's are restricted to only six countries outside of China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
Developing a hub in Shenzhen will also take the LCC head-to-head with China's largest budget carrier, the privately-owned Spring Airlines (9C, Shanghai Hongqiao), which has also aspired to developing an international hub there.
