A regional airlines, jointly invested by carriers from China and the Unites States, officially went into operation in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Saturday.

Kunpeng Airlines, now based in Shaanxi's capital Xi'an, is ventured by China's Shenzhen Airlines and the Mesa Air Group of the United States, with the Chinese company holding a controlling stake, said a spokesman of the Shenzhen Airlines.

It is also the largest sino-foreign regional airlines in China, the source said.

"The new airlines will help to boost the social and economic development of northwestern part of China," said Yang Guoqing, deputy head of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China.

The Kunpeng Airlines has three 50-seat CRJ-200 jets, which will open service on more than 10 domestic routes, including Xi'an to Taiyuan, the provincial capital of northern Shanxi, and Xi'an to Nanchang, capital of eastern Jiangxi Province.

The new airlines plans to have six jets at the end of this year and 20 ones before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games next August.

The spokesman of Kunpeng Airlines said the company plans to buy 20 50-90-seat jets every year till it has 200 in the base.

It will also establish several other bases in the future, with the routes covering China and the Southeast Asian area.

The Shenzhen Airlines was established in November 1992 in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province. The Mesa Air Group is a commercial aviation holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, which operates three airline subsidiaries.