Spring Airlines seeks to redefine itself in a more crowded Chinese LCC market

The company folklore of the Chinese low cost carrier Spring Airlines has become entrenched in aviation history, with photos of Spring staff on duty trips sharing hotel rooms while eating instant noodles.

For the Chinese market this thriftiness, and regular candid interviews with billionaire founder Wang Zhenghua, became synonymous with the growing number of budget flights on Spring Airlines. The public became educated about China's only notable LCC, which was markedly different from the cookie cutter format of full service domestic airlines.

But the spectrum of airlines in China is widening and Spring, now under the leadership of Stephen Wang, needs to reassert its position in the Chinese market.

Mr Wang addressed CAPA's Americas Aviation Summit in Orlando in Apr-2017. There are new LCCs and airlines transitioning to LCCs with different service levels, making Spring wonder if it should be an "ULCC". The reality of a government orchestrated market means Spring needs to consider widebody operations for domestic trunk routes, and possible long haul flying. Spring also needs to diversify its presence: its home hub of Shanghai is high yielding but this has invited envy, and an aviation hub overhaul could mean that LCCs are moved to a new and remote third airport in Shanghai.