State carrier China Eastern Airlines Corp is looking to raise a cool 15 billion yuan ($2.42 billion) with a private sale of shares aimed at funded the purchase of more planes for its fleet.
The airline announced to the stock exchange it would release up to 2.3 billion shares to up to 10 outside investors, including foreign firms.
Of the amount it hopes to raise, about 12 billion yuan would go towards buying 23 new aircraft with the remainder used to service bank loans.
The airline will use it for A321 jets from Airbus and B737-800 and B777-300ER planes from Boeing.
Rival Hainan Airlines also recently announced its own plans to raise$3.86 billion in a share issue to fund fleet expansion, hoping to take advantage of a boom in local stock markets.
"Chinese carriers need new planes as they continue to expand their network around the world. It’s good timing to issue new shares as the stock market is in a bull run," said industry analyst Liu Boyong.
