Civil aviation officials have given preliminary authorisation to a Chinese cargo carrier with ties to e-commerce giant JD.com to begin operations.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) reportedly announced on August 3 that Jiangsu Jingdong Cargo Airlines, based in the eastern Chinese city of Nantong, will begin operations with CNY600 million (US$92.5 million) in capital.
Jiangsu Jingdong Cargo Airlines is said to be 75% owned by Suqian Jindong Zhanrui Enterprise Management, which is controlled by Richard Liu, the JD.com founder. Nantong Airport Group will own the remaining 25%.
Sought for more details on the new cargo carrier, a JD.com representative said: "We do not have additional information further to the CAAC’s announcement."
Jiangsu Jingdong Cargo Airlines will operate a fleet of B737-800 freighters on both domestic and international cargo flights.
Earlier this year, JD.com announced that it is seeking to speed-up delivery by enabling air transport from 310 cities.
"JD Express, JD Logistics’ express delivery business will further speed up its express delivery services nationwide. It is expected that parcels from 310 cities in China can be delivered by air through JD Express by September. The number of next-morning and next-day delivery routes will be increased by 50% or more," it said in a statement in April.
"Apart from its partnership with Zhejiang Loong Airlines and Zhongyuan Longhao Airlines to invest in all-cargo aircrafts, JD also leverages cargo spaces from airlines including China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern Airlines among many others to provide faster services," it added.
In June, it launched its first China-US service and in May, it announced the addition of services to Bangkok.
"Last year, we announced the comprehensive acceleration of our express delivery service," said Jun Fan, head of JD Express, that time. "We will further raise the proportion of next-morning and next-day deliveries to provide a fast and high-quality express delivery experience for nationwide customers."
