Okay Airways first to operate Boeing 737s

A Boeing 737-900ER aircraft, delivered to Okay Airways, lands in Tianjin on Monday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In 2018, Okay Airways plans to start using really large aircraft to fly the US and other long-haul destinations, he said. "With the Chinese economy entering the 'new normal', we also would grow with suitable speed from small airplanes to mid-sized ones and then large ones," Liu said.

Though it is China's first privately owned carrier, Okay Airways will look to tap the capital market only at an opportune time in 2016 or 2017, Liu said.

"The company has made profits consecutively for four years and is eligible for an initial public offering. But we want to wait for a while and hopefully the IPO procedures would be simplified further," he said.

Liu clarified that the carrier had dropped its earlier plan of becoming a low-cost airline. "It will be difficult for us to operate as a low-cost carrier and we have arrived at the decision after a thorough analysis."