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Mesa Air unveils jet for China venture: Kunpeng Airlines begins maiden flight Sept. 16(Tribune, The (Mesa, AZ) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 16--Mesa Air Group threw a party for its new joint venture with China on Wednesday, and hogging the place of honor was the first red-, white- and gold-painted Kunpeng Airlines plane. The 50-seater CRJ-200, which was unveiled at Phoenix, is scheduled to wing its way to China later this month and start flying people around the vast Asian country on Sept. 16, said Mesa Air CEO Jonathan Ornstein. Kunpeng is named for "a mythical bird revered in Chinese society," Ornstein said. East Phoenix-based Mesa Air partnered with Shenzhen Airlines to create the regional carrier, which will have 20 50-seat jets prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Ornstein said. He said Kunpeng could eventually grow to a 200-plane operation. That's the current size of Mesa Air's whole fleet today, said Paul Skellon, company spokesman. "There's a lot of opportunity there," Ornstein said. "There are 1.4 billion people (in China), and air travel is in its infancy. There are fewer regional jets in China than in Chicago." "There may be a day when Mesa will be a China(-based) airline," he added. Shenzhen Airlines is the largest privately owned carrier in The People's Republic of China. Mesa Air will be the first U.S. company to create and own a big chunk of an airline in the country. Mesa Air's ownership share of Kunpeng is about 25 percent, Ornstein said. He would not say how much Mesa Air invested in the venture, but he did say that he expects Kunpeng to be profitable within the first year of operation. To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.eastvalleytribune.com. Copyright (c) 2007, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |