Hong Kong-listed China TravelSky Technology Ltd's parent company will seek to list in its entirety in Hong Kong to further expand the nation's largest electronic system for booking airline tickets, a senior company official said.

"Our parent company will inject key assets into TravelSky to bolster our further expansion," Zhu Xiaoxing, executive director and president of TravelSky Technology, said at an EMBA graduation forum at Tsinghua University.

Its parent company, State-owned China TravelSky Holding Co, has a registered capital of 1.5 billion yuan, according to its website. Founded in 2002, it now has four subsidiaries, including Hong Kong-listed TravelSky Technology and the Accounting Center of China Aviation.

Zhu declined to reveal details on the timetable and assets involved, citing regulatory requirements.

Hong Kong-listed TravelSky Technology now has more than 98 percent of China's electronic airline booking market, Zhu said. Its system processed about 173 million bookings for domestic and overseas airlines last year, while its revenue grew 14 percent to 1.71 billion yuan.

The company is 42.7 percent held by 14 Chinese airlines, including the holding companies of the three largest mainland commercial carriers - China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and China National Aviation Holding Co.

The Beijing-based company is now operating a website for booking airline tickets online, which some analysts say could become a strong competitor to Chinese online travel agents like as Ctrip.com.

"We will also try to tap into overseas markets and facilitate the expansion of mainland airlines," said Zhu. Travelsky Technology has more than 30 centers across the mainland as well in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.

Statistics show that airline passengers totaled 179 million in China last year, up 15 percent from 2005. The number is expected to reach 270 million in 2010.

(China Daily July 21, 2007)