Society

Airlines' name revoked after plane crash

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-28 09:15

ZHENGZHOU - China's central Henan Province on Friday ordered the commercial carrier whose plane crashed in northeast China Tuesday not to use "Henan" in its name in a bid to protect the province's image.

The building of Henan Airlines can be seen in this photo taken August 25, 2010.  [Photo/Xinhua]

The Henan Administration for Industry and Commerce announced late Friday that it had revoked the name change of the disgraced airline from Kunpeng Airlines to Henan Airlines in September 2009, because the name misled the public and tarnished the province's image.

It said the airline's name using had "casted extremely adverse impacts" on the province that does not have an interest in the company and the administration is justified by law to revoke any name change of a company which is either misleading or harms the other entity's interest.

According to the law, the revocation would only be effective after being approved by relevant state departments.

A ERJ-190 jet of Henan Airlines crashed during the landing at the airport in Yichun City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province late Tuesday night, killing 42 and injuring another 54.

It is the deadliest commercial plane crash in China in nearly six years.

The board of the airline voted to remove its general manger one day later.

A State Council-led probe into the crash has not yet concluded but deep concerns were raised about the country's air travel safety.

Henan Airlines was previously known as Kunpeng Airlines. It was re-launched as Henan Airlines after its headquarters was moved to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, in September 2009.

The company was founded by China's Shenzhen Airlines and two overseas companies in 2007. The re-launch in 2009 does not affect the company's share-holding, Henan commerce authorities said.