Hefei Airlines (Hefei) has postponed its launch until March 2015 at the earliest owing to delays in securing government approval for the project. A joint venture between China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) subsidiary, JoyAir (JOY, Xi'an Xianyang), and Xian Aircraft Company (Xi'an Yanliang) parent, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), Hefei was to have launched on June 30, 2014 but has yet to secure regulatory approval from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

In an interview with WCARN, Hefei Airlines' board member, Wu Bo, said operations could only launch nine months after the project secures the greenlight from SASAC and after it signs an official investment contract with Hefei's local government.

Once okayed, Hefei Airlines will operate 3 aircraft initially expanding to thirty - either Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) or Boeing (BOE, Washington National) - by 2020.