March 26, 2012
China Eastern Airlines said on Monday that it expects its joint venture with Australia's Qantas Airways to be profitable in the third year.
China Eastern chairman Liu Shaoyong was speaking after the companies agreed to set up a regional low-cost carrier, marking the first move by a big Chinese mainline airline into the growing but overcrowded no-frills sector.
China's third-largest airline by market value and Australia's top carrier will invest up to USD$198 million over three years in the equal joint venture, which will start in mid 2013 with three Airbus A320 aircraft, Qantas said on Monday.
