China's SF Express opens Zhengzhou cargo hub

China’s ZTO Express plans own cargo airline

China's SF Airlines inks JV for Ezhou MRO hub

SF Airlines (O3, Shenzhen) and the commercial aerospace arm of Singapore-based ST Engineering have formed a joint-venture (JV) commercial airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company to be based at China’s Ezhou airport in eastern Hubei province.

ST Engineering Aerospace (Hubei) Aviation Services Company Limited was set up with a registered capital of CNY100 million yuan (USD14.2 million). ST Engineering has a 60% stake, and SF Airlines the remaining 40%.

The new company will operate a greenfield airframe MRO facility at Ezhou Airport to provide MRO services to cargo and passenger airlines operating in the Asia region, including SF Airlines. The first hangar is scheduled to open in 2025.

To start with, the JV will cater to the entire airframe MRO needs of SF Airlines, which operates a fleet of Boeing aircraft, including the B767, B757 and B737, a spokesman for ST Engineering said.

Ezhou Airport is designated as Hubei’s international logistics hub airport. With passenger and air cargo traffic growing steadily as China re-opens its flight connectivity, the...

Editorial Comment: Correcting the name of the JV. - 23.05.2023 - 13:39 UTC

China's SF Holdings plans Hong Kong IPO

SF Airlines (O3, Shenzhen) parent SF Holdings is eyeing a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) according to a Bloomberg report. The listing has the potential to raise up to USD3 billion. SF Holdings is the first of several China-based entities working in and around aviation cargo and logistics mulling a Hong Kong IPO.

The report says SF Holdings is nutting out the listing's fine print with Goldman Sachs, Huatai Securities, and JPMorgan Chase. While the details not yet finalised, a prospectus may be lodged with the HKEX as soon as June, with an IPO scheduled in the second half of the year. SF Holdings is already listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE). That 2017 listing propelled the founder and current chairman of the board, Wang Wei, onto China's rich list and saw him secure USD billionaire status.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, SF Airlines operates 80 aircraft (67 of which it owns) namely fourteen B737-300(F)s, three B737-400(F)s, twoB747-400ERFs, one B747-400FSCD, forty-one B757-200(PCF)...

China's Central Airlines plots US flights from 4Q23

Central Airlines (I9, Haikou) has filed an application with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin operating cargo and mail flights between China and the United States (US) in November 2023. The airline says it initially wants to fly a B777-F between Shenzhen and an unspecified airport in the New York area six times a week.

The service would be the privately owned airline's first scheduled services to North America. Central Airlines' single B777F primarily flies to Paris CDG and Riyadh, while its five B737-300(F)s and four B737-800(BCF)s service ports within China as well as around Asia. In its filing, Central Airlines says it intends to induct a second B777 in August this year.

Beyond New York, the Central Airlines application states that it wants permission to operate flights from "a point or points in the People's Republic of China to any point or points in the United States open to scheduled international service." It says the application is fully consistent with the air services agreement China and the...