Air China, the nation's flagship airline, announced yesterday the company had finished its business regrouping to join China Southwest Airlines and Zhejiang Airlines, and had been formally authorized to operate in domestic and international air routes by China's aviation administrator.

Air China was the first to finish the restructuring among three aviation groups, having obtained approval to establish the new venture from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) last April.

The other two groups include China Southern Airlines, which is combining the business from China Northern Airlines and Xinjiang Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines which is regrouping China Yunnan Airlines and China Northwest Airlines.

"Uniform standards in pilots' training, safety operations, ticket sales and network connections had been established inside the company, and inspection teams have since agreed to authorize the group's rights for commercial operation," said Liu Shaoyong, vice-director of the CAAC.

Since being established on October 28 last year, Air China has spent nine months working to meet compulsory industry requirements introduced by the CAAC and the International Air Transport Association.

Liu said both the new China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines need to meet those standards first before they can be authorized to operate under the name of the same company.

The new Air China group now operates 2,472 weekly flights with roughly a 26 per cent market share in China.

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