JuneYao Airlines, a private carrier based in Zhejiang province, plans to list its business on the domestic stock market next year, the airline's chairman said on Monday.

The public listing aims at raising capital to expand the airline's fleet, Wang Junjin, JuneYao's chairman, said on the sidelines of the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The airline, operating a fleet of 10 aircrafts, plans to add eight to 10 airplanes in 2009 and 2010, Wang said.

JuneYao Airlines made a profit of about 10 million yuan (US$1.46 million) in 2008 despite the deepening economic downturn, Wang said.

Wang is also chairman of JuneYao Group, which is the largest shareholder of Okay Airways, a Tianjin-based private carrier.

Okay Airways resumed passenger service in January after a one-month suspension due to an internal management dispute.

"We are trying to put Okay Airways back on track. But we don't rule out the possibility to withdraw from the airline," Wang said.

There has reportedly been much disagreement between JuneYao and Okay Airways' other shareholders as well as the management team since the Zhejiang-based company became the airline's largest shareholder in 2006.

(China Daily March 9, 2009)