US and Chinese carriers launch regional airline

Kunpeng Airlines, a venture between China's Shenzhen Airlines Ltd and US-based Mesa Air Group Inc has begun operating in China's north-west Shaanxi Province, Xinhua said late on Saturday. The new airline is the first such venture by a US carrier in the growing Chinese market, and hopes to expand rapidly before next year's Beijing Olympic Games.
The airline gives Mesa a foothold in one of the world's fastest growing economies at a time when expansion for regional carriers in the United States is slowing.