Mainland China's Sichuan Airlines and Taiwan's TransAsia Airways are in negotiations to launch a new carrier based in Shanghai, according to Lin Xiaoxin, president of Goldsun Group, TransAsia's biggest shareholder. "Currently we are discussing relevant details with TransAsia Airways to launch a new airline, but so far no agreement has been reached," a Sichuan source said. It is expected that Sichuan will have a controlling stake in the new entity, which would be in accordance with CAAC regulations on foreign ownership.

TransAsia MD Tian Di said CAAC has approved the entity, which is expected to start service by year end. He noted that the new airline will focus on "China's domestic routes" first and then add routes to Hong Kong and Macau. "International routes" will be considered in the future, according to Taiwanese press reports. Sichuan has 25 A320 family aircraft and five ERJ-145s with 15 Airbus narrowbodies on order, according to the Ascend CASE database. Its network comprises 40 cities. TransAsia has eight A320 family aircraft and nine ATR 72s, according to CASE.