Privately-run Chinese carrier Juneyao Airlines will start preparing for its initial public offering later this year, raising up to CNY2 billion yuan (USD$293 million), a senior executive at its parent firm said Thursday.

The carrier had not decided the venue of the IPO but mainland China and Hong Kong listings were both among the options, Wang Junhao, president of Juneyao Group said.

"We have been considering going public for quite some time as it could be a big help for our future development," said Wang.

He added that Juneyao also wanted to bring in strategic investors, preferably overseas carriers with extensive international routes, but declined to name potential partners.

The Shanghai-based carrier has a fleet of 14 Airbus A320 planes and Wang said they have yet to take delivery of several more planes. No new aircraft order is on the agenda now.

China's air travel market has resumed its normal growth patten this year, rebounding strongly from a sharper-than-expected downturn in 2008 as Beijing's aggressive economic stimulus plans lifted consumer confidence.

The country's three biggest carriers, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines have all returned to profitability in the third quarter.

Wang said he expected Juneyao Air to book between CNY50 million and CNY60 million in profit this year, up sharply from roughly CNY10 million in 2008, but did not specify whether it was net profit or operating profit.

Juneyao, which only flies domestic routes so far, has regulatory approval to fly to Hong Kong and other southeast Asian countries. Service is scheduled to begin early next year.

"We will not rush into long-haul international routes in a hurry. We will go step by step," he said.