Recently, another Chinese private airline, Loong Air, completed the pre-IPO tutoring process required for an A-share listing. If the bid succeeds, the carrier will become the eighth passenger airline listed on China’s A-share market.
On May 15, 2026, Zhejiang Loong Air completed its IPO tutoring process, marking another step forward in its listing journey.
In 2024, Loong Air surpassed RMB 10 billion (USD 1.47 billion) in revenue and recorded a 5.26% net profit margin, a solid performance at a time when most airlines across China’s civil aviation industry were still operating at a loss.
In recent years, Loong Air has expanded its fleet rapidly. At the end of 2019, the airline had fewer than 50 aircraft with a fleet of 46.
During the three years of the pandemic, Loong Air added aircraft at a fast pace:
2020: 11 aircraft, all A320s
2021: 5 aircraft, including 4 A321s and 1 A320
2022: 5 aircraft, including 4 A321s and 1 A319
This represented a net increase of 20 aircraft over three years, a growth rate of 46%.
At present, Loong Air’s fleet has reached 66 aircraft, making it the fastest-growing airline in terms of fleet expansion among all Chinese carriers during the pandemic years.
As a privately controlled airline, Zhejiang Loong Air’s IPO process underscores the increasing divergence among Chinese private carriers: some are seeing losses deepen, others continue to improve, and some may eventually be pushed out of the market.
