East Star fades

SIX creditors have sent applications for the bankruptcy of East Star, one of China's private airlines, to the Wuhan Intermediate People's Court in Hubei Province. Authoritative sources yesterday said East Star will most likely go bankrupt as it faces huge losses and cannot handle the current difficulties itself. East Star has had losses of about 500 million yuan (US$73 million), according to auditors. It suspended operations on March 15.