Air Guilin, a startup subsidiary of HNA Group, has filed an application for an air operator's certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), paving the way for it to launch its maiden flight. The aviation watchdog already completed preliminary review of the start-up's application, according to a statement released on the CAAC's website on April 4.

Approved by the aviation watchdog in last September, Air Guilin is a joint venture between Guilin Tourism Development Co. (60%) and HNA Group subsidiary Guilin Aviation Tourism Group (40%), with 600 million yuan in initial start-up capital.

Based at Guilin Liangjiang International Airport, the start-up airline is licensed for domestic cargo & passenger air transportation business, using Airbus A319 aircraft. The company will be a limited company with Hu Mingbo, Chairman of Capital Airlines, as its legal representative and Chairman.

According to the notice released on the website of CAAC, the airline has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to introduce three Airbus A319 aircraft from Capital Airlines, including one on lease.

The Guilin-based carrier took delivery of its first aircraft on March 11 - an A319 airplane painted with Guilin's scenery. The aircraft, Registration B-6192, was transferred from Capital Airlines.

The airline company has signed an agency agreement on ground services with Guangxi Airport Group, and the South and Central Regional Air Traffic Management Bureau has agreed to provide civil aviation communication, meteorology and flight information for the airline. In addition, the bureau assigned 131.95 MHZ as its management channel frequency.

The Air Traffic Management Bureau of CAAC assigned "CGH" code and "WELKIN" as English radio call sign for the airline and it will employ "GT" code and "730" code for accounting.

Meanwhile, Air Guilin has recruited 46 pilots, 17 maintenance staff, 12 flight dispatchers, 66 flight attendants, 4 welders and 19 safety personnel for the initial operation.

HNA Group, parent of China's fourth largest carrier, Hainan Airlines, has continued the rapid expansion of its airline portfolio with a series of new subsidiaries. And the launch of the new carrier marks another step in the impressive expansion of HNA Group's aviation portfolio.

Recently, the Chinese conglomerate has announced to set up new passenger airlines in Ningbo and Xi'an.

The CAAC has begun soliciting submissions on Jiangxi Airlines and said that the approval would be granted unless it was informed of reasonable grounds to reconsider the plan before April 15, 2016.

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