The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has given the green light to Chinese start-up carrier Fuzhou Airlines' introduction of 5 Boeing 737-800s from its parent company Hainan Airlines (HU), Fuzhou Daily reported on Saturday.

The initial fleet size of Fuzhou Airlines will reach 5 aircraft, more than other start-up carriers in China, which usually have not more than 3 aircraft before commencing operations.

According to the approval of CAAC, three out of the five 737-800s will be injected as assets into Fuzhou Airlines by Hainan Airlines, with the rest two introduced through leasing from the Haikou-based carrier.

Fuzhou Airlines is a joint venture among Hainan Airlines, Fuzhou State-owned Assets Investment Holdings Ltd., Century Golden Resources Group and Ningbo Ruitong Network Technology Co., Ltd. Hainan Airlines holds a 60% stake in the joint venture with an investment of 1.2 billion yuan.

Fuzhou Airlines will be based at Fuzhou Changle International Airport (FOC), which is the only airport among the Chinese airports handling more than 5 million passengers with just one base airline. Fuzhou airport is now capable of handing 13 million passengers annually.

Fuzhou Airlines is due to make its inaugural flight on October 1, to compete against Xiamen Airlines (MF), which has a 50 percent market share in Fuzhou.

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