Juneyao Airlines Co Ltd posted profit of 18 million yuan (US$2.40 million) in the first eight months, its first operating year, a top company official said yesterday.

The Shanghai-based carrier, owned by privately held Juneyao Group, will likely post a profit of more than 20 million yuan for the entire year as it buys more planes and opens more routes, according to Group Chairman Wang Junjin.

"Business so far meets our expectations," said Wang. The carrier had forecast profit of 15 million yuan for 2007.

Juneyao Airlines, which launched its maiden flight in September last year, runs five Airbus 320 aircraft with routes out of Shanghai to 19 domestic cities including Wenzhou, Tianjin, Kunming, Guilin, Changsha, Taiyuan, Zhengzhou, Sanya, Qingdao and Chengdu.

It plans to open new routes such as Shanghai to Haikou in the fourth quarter and start Asian routes next year. By 2010, the carrier aims to expand its fleet to 30.

Juneyao Airlines will go public at the beginning of 2009, possibly on an overseas market, Wang told reporters in April.

Money raised on the capital market will be used to buy planes as it expands domestic routes and starts international operations.

Speaking of the aviation authority's curb on new carriers yesterday, Wang said the move will help bolster the company's bottom line and push forward public listing by ruling out potential rivals.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation said in August that it would not accept any applications to set up new airlines to prevent the aviation market from growing too fast. The suspension of new applications will last until 2010.

For the first eight months of this year, Juneyao Airlines carried more than 650,000 passengers and cargo traffic exceeded 6,000 tons, it said yesterday.

(Shanghai Daily September 25, 2007)