Popular Chinese travel site is starting its own airline

Qunar, the Baidu-backed travel booking website, released an unexpected piece of news earlier this week: the company is going to start its own airline. Qunar isn’t doing it alone. Qunar is joining 2 co-founders in the venture, and will focus primarily on the ticketing and tech side of the airline. Qunar will be a minority shareholder, and media speculates that a major investor may be the Baoneng Group, which is reportedly in the process of launching its own airline in Shenzhen. The airline will be based in Shenzhen, focus on budget travel, and will complete both international and domestic routes. This news comes after an eventful winter for Qunar. In January, a number of Chinese airlines revolted against the firm over a dispute regarding discounts and the style of the listings on Qunar’s website. <br/>