Spring Airlines is leading the private airline IPO race by launching online and offline shares subscription on January 12, just ahead of rival Juneyao Airlines.
Dubbed the “first private airline with A shares”, Spring Airlines will release 100 million shares in the Shanghai stock exchange IPO at an initial offer price of RMB18.6 per share. The release will raise its total equity to 400 million shares. It has posted a subscription manual on the stock exchange Wechat account and started subscriptions.
Juneyao Airline’s IPO is also imminent. Juneyao Group’s CEO Junhao Wang said at an annual alumni gathering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University that the IPO has already been approval and is slated for the Spring Festival.
“Juneyao Airlines will have the newest fleet in the world, with aircraft age averaging only three years for its 40 aircraft. This is crucial to our competiveness. We will recruit international crews, including more than 100 pilots, to address domestic flight crew shortages and to boost innovation and sustain development.” Mr. Wang said.
Unlike low-cost carrier (LCC) Spring Airlines, Juneyao Airlines targets the upmarket business traveler market. However, it has been offering discounted fares for many routes to boost its load factor and has been investing in setting up 9 Air in a bid to cross over to the LCC market.
Juneyao Group is a multi-faceted investment company with holdings in the airlines, dairy, food processing, retail and finance sectors.(Translation by David)
