China's debt-stricken air carrier JoyAir halts all flights

By Emre Aytekin

BEIJING (AA) - JoyAir, the local airline of northern China’s Shaanxi province, has reportedly stopped all flights due to an economic downturn.

The air carrier removed all ticket sales and flight reservation information from its website, reported the South China Morning Post on Monday.

It is believed that the company stopped its operations due to the debt crisis and financial problems with its employees.

The airline, owned by the Shaanxi provincial government, was carrying regional passengers between China's medium-sized cities with a fleet of Xian MA60-type domestically produced turbo-propeller engine aircraft.

Analysts said that with the development of high-speed rail infrastructure between these cities, passenger volumes and profitability on these routes have fallen.