Society

Henan to revoke airline's name after plane crash

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-28 00:52

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.

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

It said the airline's name had "cast an extremely adverse impact" on the province, which 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 province's interest.

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

A ERJ-190 jet from Henan Airlines crashed while landing at the airport in Yichun, northeast China's Heilongjiang province late Tuesday night, killing 42 passengers and injuring 54.

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

By late Friday, 32 severely injured survivors had been transferred to hospitals in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province.

Doctors said 17 of the victims still faced life threatening dangers with serious burns or head and chest wounds.

Also, the conditions of five children were described as stable, but they are not out of danger yet, doctors said.

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

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

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.