Shanghai-based express delivery company YTO Express Co Ltd may have its own airline in 2014, sources said.

An application to set up an airline has been submitted to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the country's top civil aviation regulator, and is expected to get the green light, Yu Weijiao, chairman of YTO Express was quoted as saying by the National Business Daily on Friday.

YTO Express, with three cargo jets, is the nation's third courier company to have its own cargo fleet, trailing China Post's EMS and Shenzhen-based SF Express (Group) Co. But YTO Express does not have its own airline.

"A courier company without a cargo aircraft can not be called a real courier company," said Yang Xinwei, vice-president of YTO Express.

"We look forward to owning 15 cargo aircrafts to fly between 76 airports in three years, and to deliver more than 1,000 tons of cargo each day," added Yang.