Air China

This article covers the airline of the People's Republic of China, for information on the national airline of the Republic of China (on Taiwan), see China Airlines .

Air China 中国 国际 航空公司
IATA code :	CA
ICAO code :	CCA
Call sign :	AIR CHINA
Founding:	1988
Seat:	Beijing , People's Republic of China
Turnstile :	Beijing Shanghai Pudong Cheng you
Home airport :	Beijing
Company form:	Centrally managed company
ISIN :	CNE1000001S0
IATA prefix code :	999
Management:	Song Zhiyong
Number of employees:	26,206 (2014)
Sales:	CNY 105.8 billion (2014)
Passenger volume:	83.01 million (2014)
Alliance :	Star Alliance
Frequent Flyer Program :	PhoenixMiles
Fleet size:	429 (+ 153 orders)
Aims:	National and international
Website:	www.airchina.de

Air China ( Chinese  中國 國際 航空公司  /  中国 国际 航空公司 , Pinyin Zhōngguó Guójì Hángkōng Gōngsī  - "China International Airline", short 國 航  /  国 航 , Guóháng ) is the national airline of the People's Republic of China , based in Beijing and based at Beijing Airport . She's in the 50 index Shanghai Stock Exchange listed and member of the airline alliance Star Alliance .

It emerged as one of six new airlines from CAAC Airlines , which was dissolved in 1988 , and initially had a monopoly on long-haul flights. The other five companies were responsible for domestic flights and traffic in the Asian region.

history

Air China headquarters

Air China began its flights on July 1, 1988. Its origins lie in the international part of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which was founded in 1939 to carry out military flights from what was then the Republic of China to Central Russia . In 1988 the CAAC was divided into individual regional companies and the internationally operating Air China. The first scheduled aircraft of the CAAC was the Lisunow Li-2 . Then came the Ilyushin Il-14 , which was soon replaced by the Ilyushin Il-18 .

The first jet was the Hawker Siddeley Trident and was ordered in 1970. The Ilyushin Il-62M and the Boeing 707 took over the first long-haul flights . CAAC received their first Boeing 747 on February 29, 1980, their first Boeing 737-300 on June 15, 1986. The first 737-700 was delivered to Air China on June 17, 2003 and the 737-800 on August 17, 1999.

Air China's large-capacity fleet today consists of the two versions of the Airbus A330 , the Boeing 777-200 and the 777-300ER as well as the 747-400 and 747-8 , which are to replace the 747-400.

Air China has been a member of the Star Alliance since December 2007 . In 2014, 51,010,000 passengers traveled on flights operated by Air China - are not included in this number, the passengers of other airlines, although the Air China Group ( Air China Group are), but do not bear the name "Air China"; the occupancy rate of Air China flights averaged 80 percent in 2014.

Air China holds shares in various airlines, including Air China Cargo , Cathay Pacific , Shenzhen Airlines , Air Macau , Shandong Airlines , Dalian Airlines , Beijing Airlines , Tibet Airlines and Air China Inner Mongolia ; The Air China Group, which includes all airlines belonging to the Air China Group , operated a total of 540 aircraft with an average age of 6.08 years as of December 31, 2014; a total of 83.01 million passengers were carried.

Air China was downgraded to three-star airline status by Skytrax in November 2013 because the product quality no longer met the minimum requirements for four stars.

On July 7, 2014, the President of Air China, Song Zhiyong, and the CEO of Lufthansa , Carsten Spohr , signed a letter of intent for closer strategic cooperation. Both partners will coordinate the flight connections and services offered in a joint venture more closely, distribute the proceeds from the jointly provided services between the two airlines according to a key that has yet to be negotiated and recognize the tickets of the respective partner.

In addition, both airlines want to intensify their cooperation in the area of ​​MRO services ( Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul - maintenance, repair and overhaul ).

Since both airlines together operate 84% of all flights between Germany and China and transport 88% of all passengers, such an alliance requires the approval of the antitrust authorities, which has not yet taken place. According to Lufthansa’s CEO Carsten Spohr, the closer cooperation should start before the end of 2015.

Destinations

Along with China Eastern , China Southern and Hainan Airlines, Air China is one of the few Chinese airlines that flies to destinations in Asia , Australia , Europe , North America and South America . In the German-speaking area are Frankfurt , Munich , Dusseldorf , Vienna and Zurich served.

Code sharing

Air China has codeshare agreements with the following airlines ( Star Alliance members are marked with *):

Air Canada * Air New Zealand * Air Macau Air Serbia All Nippon Airways * Asiana Airlines * Austrian Airlines * Cathay Dragon Cathay Pacific

China Express Egypt Air * El Al Israel Airlines Ethiopian Airlines * EVA Air * Finnair Hawaiian Airlines Juneyao Airlines Kunming Airlines

LATAM Airlines LOT Polish Airlines * Lufthansa * SAS * Shandong Airlines SilkAir Singapore Airlines * SWISS *

Shenzhen Airlines * South African Airways * TAP Air Portugal * Tibet Airlines Turkish Airlines * Uni Air United Airlines * Virgin Atlantic

fleet

Air China Airbus A321-200

Air China Airbus A330-300

Air China Boeing 777-300ER

Current fleet

As of March 2020, Air China's fleet consists of 429 aircraft with an average age of 7.5 years:

Aircraft type	number	ordered	Remarks	Seats ( First / Business / Eco + / Eco )
Airbus A319-100	33			128 (- / 8 / - / 120)
Airbus A320-200	44	12		158 (- / 8 / - / 150)
Airbus A320neo	26th	7th
Airbus A321-200	61	1		185 (- / 12 / - / 173) 177 (- / 16 / - / 161)
Airbus A321neo	9			194 (- / 12 / - / 182)
Airbus A330-200	30th			284 (- / 12 / - / 272) 237 (- / 30 / - / 207)
Airbus A330-300	28	6th		301 (- / 30/16/255)
Airbus A350-900	10	20th	Deliveries by 2022	312 (- / 32/24/256)
Boeing 737-700	18th			128 (- / 8 / - / 120)
Boeing 737-800	102	58		167 (- / 8 / - / 159) 159 (- / 12 / - / 147)
Boeing 737 MAX 8	16	28	inactive	176 (- / 8 / - / 168)
Boeing 747-400	3		will be retired and replaced by Boeing 747-8s; operated an aircraft for the Chinese government	344 (10/42 / - / 292) VIP
Boeing 747-8	7th			365 (12/54/66/233)
Boeing 777-300ER	28			311 (8/42 / - / 261)
Boeing 787-9	14th	1		293 (- / 30/34/229)
Comac C919		20th		- open -
total	429	153

Special paints

Aircraft type	Aircraft registration	Painting	Period	image
Airbus A320-200	B-6610	"Plum Blossom / Splendid Hubei"	since September 2007
Airbus A321-200	B-6361 B-6365	"Beautiful Sichuan" "Beautiful Sichuan II"	since May 2010 since December 2008
	B-6383	" Star Alliance "	since July 2018
Airbus A330-200	B-6075 B-6076 B-6091 B-6093		since November 2018 since October 2018 since October 2007 since December 2007
Airbus A330-300	B-5977	"50th A330 for Air China"	since August 2015
Airbus A350-900	B-308M	"Star Alliance"	since May 2019
Boeing 737-700	B-5211 B-5214	"Pink Peony"	since 2008
Boeing 737-800	B-5198	"Yellow Peony"	since 2011
	B-5390	"Gold Peony"	since May 2010
	B-5422	"Phoenix"	since March 2009
	B-5425 B-5497	"EXPO 2019"	since May 2018 since April 2018
Boeing 777-300ER	B-2006	"Love China "	since September 2014
	B-2032	"Star Alliance"	since July 2012
	B-2035	"Smiling China"	since October 2012
	B-2047	"50 Years of Chinese-French Diplomatic Relations"	since October 2014

Former aircraft types

Antonov An-12 of the CAAC in Wattay, 1975

Ilyushin Il-18 of the CAAC in Guilin, 1984

Previously, CAAC and Air China also operated the following types of aircraft:

Airbus A300 Airbus A310 Airbus A340-300 Antonov An-2 Antonov An-12 Antonov An-24 Antonov An-26 Antonov An-30 BAe 146 Boeing 707 Boeing 737 -200, -300 Boeing 747 -200, -SP Boeing 757-200

Boeing 767 -200ER, -300 Convair CV-240 De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Douglas DC-9 / MD-80 Hawker Siddeley Trident Ilyushin Il-14 Ilyushin Il-18 Ilyushin Il-62 Lisunov Li-2 Short 360 Tupolev Tu-154 Vickers Viscount Xian Y-7

technology

In Beijing, Air China operates in a joint venture with Lufthansa the Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corporation ( AMECO Beijing ), which is currently the largest provider of MRO services ( Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul - Maintenance, repair and overhaul) in the People's Republic of China is . In addition to the headquarters in Beijing, AMECO operates nine further maintenance bases in Chengdu , Chongqing , Hangzhou , Tianjin , Hohhot , Shanghai , Guiyang , Wuhan and Guangzhou .

AMECO Beijing was founded in May 1989, with Air China as the majority owner holding 60 percent of the shares and Lufthansa 40 percent. AMECO not only maintains the aircraft of Air China and Lufthansa, but also those of numerous other national and international airlines. For example, in 2005 United Airlines and AMECO signed a five-year contract for the maintenance of all 55 Boeing 777s in the American airline's fleet. The contract was extended for another five years in 2010 and extended to all of the airline's Boeing 747s .

Since August 1, 2014, AMECO Beijing has been carrying out so-called line maintenance tasks (pre-flight maintenance work) on the Airbus A380 used by Singapore Airlines on the Beijing-Singapore route ; This involves maintenance and testing work that precedes every flight or has to be carried out daily or at short intervals of up to a week.

Freight business

→ Main article : Air China Cargo

Air China's cargo business is handled by an independent subsidiary, Air China Cargo . Air China holds 51% of the shares in Air China Cargo. Air China Cargo not only transports air freight with its own freighters, but also has the sole right of use for the freight compartments of all Air China passenger aircraft, so that areas of the freight compartment that are not occupied by passenger luggage can be filled with air freight.

PhoenixMiles

Under the name PhoenixMiles ( 鳳凰 知音  /  凤凰 知音 , Fènghuáng Zhīyīn  - "The Phoenix's Best Friends"), Air China has been operating a frequent flyer program since 1994, which currently has 32.96 million members. The Chinese airlines Shenzhen Airlines , Shandong Airlines and Dalian Airlines , among others, have joined this bonus system .

As a member of the Star Alliance , Air China's frequent flyer program is largely compatible with the frequent flyer programs of the other members of this aviation alliance . PhoenixMiles members can earn miles as passengers on all flights operated by Air China and its partner airlines.

As with any frequent flyer program, both the number of miles credited and the special rights (access to lounges, taking additional items of luggage, etc.) depend on the status of the member - there are normal members, Silver Card Members, Gold Card Members and Platinum Card Members.

Incidents

Since it was renamed (formerly CAAC) in 1988 to October 2019, Air China suffered three total write-offs of aircraft. One of them killed 129 people. Example:

• On April 15, 2002, a Boeing 767-200ER ( aircraft registration number B-2552 ) had an accident while approaching Gimhae Airport (South Korea) in bad weather. The machine was en route from Beijing to Busan, but due to a pilot's error it flew into a hill near Busan. 129 of the 166 people on board were killed (see also Air China flight 129 ) .

Trivia

• In the episode "The Smiling Buddha" of the cartoon series The Simpsons from 2005, the Simpson family flies to China on an airplane that bears the lettering "Air China".
• In the film Karate Kid from 2010, an Air China Boeing 747-400 can be seen as a product placement . During another scene in which the main actor Jaden Smith tries to speak Chinese with a supposedly Chinese passenger in the aircraft cabin, flight attendants in Air China uniforms and the Air China logo on the walls of the cabin can be seen in the background.
• In the film The Interview from 2014, a machine from the fictional airline "Zhangzhou Air" (presumably an incorrect spelling of "Zhengzhou Air") can be seen, but in the entire type of painting and lettering of an Air Boeing 747-400 China equals.
• The Air China logo forms a stylized red phoenix from the Latin letters VIP .

See also

• List of airlines

Web links

Commons : Air China  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ airchina.com - Company overview , accessed June 8, 2014.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Air China Annual Report 2014 (English), accessed on May 8, 2015.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Air China Limited Announces 2014 Annual Results , accessed on April 3, 2015.
4. ↑ rzjets: CAAC, Boeing 747 (English), accessed on August 6, 2020.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Orders and Deliveries (English), accessed on January 4, 2018.
6. ↑ USA Today - Air China is second to get Boeing's newest, biggest 747, September 30, 2014 (English) accessed on February 1, 2015.
7. ↑ staralliance.com - Air China. Retrieved May 7, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Air China Annual Report 2014 , accessed May 8, 2015.
9. ↑ airlinequality.com - AIR CHINA Quality Rating downgraded to 3-Star Airline status , accessed on November 6, 2013.
10. ↑ ^{a b} airliners.de - Lufthansa and Air China want to expand cooperation, July 7, 2015 , accessed on February 1, 2015.
11. ↑ Reuters - Lufthansa sets up joint venture with Air China, July 7, 2014, accessed on February 1, 2015.
12. ↑ centreforaviation.com - Air China-Lufthansa Group JV will control 35% of Europe-China market while easing growth tensions, July 8, 2014 (English), accessed on February 1, 2015.
13. ↑ airliners.de - Lufthansa boss: closer cooperation with Air China planned for 2015, March 6, 2015 , accessed on March 8, 2015.
14. ↑ https://www.airchina.de/DE/DE/about-us/partnerships/ , accessed on January 4, 2018.
15. ^ Air China Fleet Details and History. Retrieved March 20, 2020 . 
16. ↑ Airbus - Orders & deliveries (English), accessed on January 4, 2018.
17. ↑ https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air_China/information.php , accessed on January 4, 2018.
18. ↑ https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Air-China (English), accessed on January 4, 2018.
19. ↑ Order for 20 A350-900s: Air China buys additional Airbus A350s. In: aeroTELEGRAPH. July 11, 2019, accessed on January 23, 2020 (Swiss Standard German). 
20. ↑ Ulrich Klee and Frank Bucher, among others: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1966 to 2007.
21. ↑ ^{a b} airchina.com - Company Profile
22. ↑ ameco.com - Company Profile. Retrieved May 7, 2019 . 
23. ↑ United Airlines, Ameco Sign 5-Year Maintenance Deal. In: Aviation Pros. March 29, 2010 .  
24. ↑ presseportal.de - Air China begins freight transport route to Chengdu with a Boeing 747-400, May 15, 2011 , accessed on March 15, 2015.
25. ↑ presseportal.de - Air China invites "Phoenix Miles" members on a trip to Dubai , accessed on May 18, 2015.
26. ↑ Air China accident statistics since 1988 , Aviation Safety Network , accessed on August 14, 2019.
27. ^ Accident report B-767-200 B-2552 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 5, 2018.
28. ↑ imdb.com - The Interview Trivia
29. ^ Company profile , accessed April 10, 2014.