Air China confirmed on Tuesday it would cut the size of its initial public offering on the mainland by 39 per cent due to weaker-than-expected demand from institutions.

The carrier will issue 1.639bn shares, compared with the initial plan to sell 2.7bn, on the Shanghai stock exchange. It priced the offering at Rmb2.8 per share, which was towards the lower end of its pricing range and meant the company would raise Rmb4.6bn ($577m) from the listing.