Will we see Greater Bay Airlines (GBA) Inaugural Flight On October 1st - the 72nd anniversary of the People’s Republic of China Despite Road Blocks ?

Thats True, Greater Bay Airlines (GBA) has plans to Fly its Inaugural Flight - a Chartered Flight to Beijing on October 1st the 72nd anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

• GBA expects that it will be granted its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) in the month of September .
• Director Stanley Hui Hon-chung acknowledges the Hurdles due to Rivals in the Business.
• GBA already unveiled Livery and Aircraft with a Boeing B737-800, that is registered as D-AAGB.
• GBA has applied for the rights to fly 104 routes across Asia, according to a Hong Kong government gazette.

Decimated airline industry,  widespread layoffs, bailouts, Chaos in Air travel and record revenue losses could not stop Greater Bay Airlines (GBA) to Launch their intentions as the Hong Kong based carrier unveiled its first aircraft, a Boeing B737-800 with registration D-AAGB, in Guangzhou, China on 03-Aug-2021.

GBA expects that it will be granted its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) in September from the government. Stanley Hui, an independent board director of the airline, is confident its application will be approved, and hopefully the airline can launch its maiden flight by the end of the year.

• Greater Bay Airlines is backed by Huang Chubiao, who is also the founder of Donghai Airlines.
• Previous to GBA , Stanley Hui was the chief executive of Airport Authority of Hong Kong and chief executive of Dragon Air.

“We believe we meet all the requirements. It is not surprising that incumbent airlines do deploy various means to prevent or delay the entry into the market of new airlines,” Hui added.

South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports As part of the licence compliance process, principal shareholder Bill Wong Cho-bau ( aka Huang Chubiao) – who owns Shenzhen-based Donghai Airlines – pumped in an additional HK$250 million (US$32.1 million), according to a Companies Registry filing on June 30.

Reports say , GBA has already hired 10 pilots and is expected to employ a total of 35 pilots in its early stage of operation, that will focus on China and southeast Asia, including countries such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan.

Earlier, the airline has leased three aircraft from a leasing company. The remaining two aircraft are expected to be delivered by the end of 2021. The airline has applied 104 routes and will mainly

Already leased three Boeing B737-800 aircrafts, GBA is expected to operate a fleet of  around 30 aircrafts in the coming years. Hui is planning to fly his B737-800 aircrafts in the profitable route pairs of Hong Kong – Beijing and Hong Kong – Shanghai apart from 20 other routes in the initial days.

South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports , GBA, headed by former top Cathay Pacific executive Algernon Yau Ying-wah, had previously said it intended to launch in October, but had not indicated a specific date.

The carrier’s debut flight and beyond, however, remain clouded with uncertainty, with Asia facing some of the strictest travel restrictions, including in Hong Kong, where arriving passengers need to undergo mandatory hotel quarantine.

Mainland China has also seen a recent resurgence in Covid-19, with outbreaks affecting at least half of the nation’s provinces, including the capital.

“We are mindful that as a new airline, it takes time to build up a solid foundation. We are not rushing in to expand rapidly until we are ready,” Hui said. “We will adjust our pace of development, taking into account market conditions, and to what extent, travel restrictions will be eased going forward.”

GBA, which initially fly three Boeing 737 aircraft, will undergo a series of test flights from the middle of the month overseen by the city’s aviation regulator, a key stage in securing permits to start flying.