On Dec. 16, Zhejiang Loong Airlines Co., Ltd. (GJ), the only and first local airline in Zhejiang province of eastern China, received its first Airbus A320 aircraft at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH). The new aircraft was welcomed by a water-cannon salute at the airport.

Zhejiang Loong has recently been approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for passenger flight operation. Together with another A320 to be delivered on Dec. 22, the newly introduced aircraft will be put into commercial operation and make inaugural flights for passenger business on Dec. 26. Moreover, the Hangzhou-based airline plans to start passenger business with domestic routes from Hangzhou to first tier cities like Changsha, Changchun, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Wuhan, Shenzhen Xiamen and Xi'an. The airline has the ambition to start regional and international routes in three to five years.

In this December, Loong Airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 20 A320s including 11 A320ceo and nine A320neo. It is learnt that the airline plans to purchase another 4 aircraft in the first half of 2014, bring its fleet size up to 9 aircraft including 6 passenger aircraft and 3 freighters.

The Airbus A320 Family aircraft is ideal for start up airlines with clear advantages in operational reliability, economics, cabin space and its commonality between different types of Airbus aircraft, which will help operators to reduce cost on training and maintenance.