China’s Longjiang Airlines has begun daily Airbus A321 service from Harbin to Hefei and Zhuhai, commencing operations serving the northeast China market.
The Harbin-based carrier received approval to launch in July 2014. Longjiang is wholly owned by Harbin Xiangyu Co. with a registered capital of CNY800 million ($116 million).
The new venture operates two A320 family aircraft initially and plans to introduce three more A320 family aircraft previously operated by German carrier airberlin in the first half of this year. Longjiang also expects to open domestic routes to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Xi’an and Chengdu.
The airline has mapped out an ambitious plan to build “a transportation circle centered on Harbin with domestic flights [within] six hours [flight time] and international flights [within] 12 hours” flight time for the foreseeable future. The company is expected to eventually operate longer international routes to Russia, South Korea, Japan, Europe and the US.