Air China Limited (SEHK: 0753, LSE: AIRC, SSE: 601111) (simplified Chinese: 中国国际航空公司; traditional Chinese: 中國國際航空公司; pinyin: Zhōngguó Guójì Hángkōng Gōngsī; literally "China International Airlines Company", abbreviated 国航) is the flag carrier and one of the major airlines of the People's Republic of China, with its headquarters in Shunyi District, Beijing. The airline's flight operations are based from out of Beijing Capital International Airport and is the world's 10th largest airline by fleet size. The airline ranked behind its main competitors China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines in terms of total passengers carried.^[1]

The enterprise logo of Air China consists of an artistic phoenix pattern, the Chinese name of the airline written in calligraphy by former national leader Deng Xiaoping, and “AIR CHINA” in English. The phoenix logo is also the artistic transfiguration of the word “VIP”. Air China is a member of the Star Alliance.

In 2010, Air China carried 60 million domestic and international passengers with an average load factor of 80%. The airline reported a net profit of 12 billion yuan (USD $1.83 billion) in 2010.^[2]

History and development[link]

Air China Boeing 747-400

Air China Boeing 747-400

Air China Airbus A321-200

Air China Airbus A340-300

Air China Boeing 737-800

Air China was established on 1 July 1988 as a result of the Chinese government's late 1987 decision to split the operating divisions of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) into six separate airlines: Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, China Northern, China Southwest, and China Northwest.^[3] Air China was given chief responsibility for intercontinental flights and took over the CAAC's long haul aircraft (Boeing 747s, 767s, and 707s) and routes.

In January 2001, the former CAAC's ten airlines announced they had agreed on a merger plan,^[4] according to which Air China was to acquire China Southwest Airlines. Before the acquisition, Air China was the country's fourth largest domestic airline. The merger created a group with assets of 56 billion yuan (USD $8.63 billion), and a fleet of 118 aircraft.^[5] In October 2002, Air China consolidated with the China National Aviation Corporation and China Southwest Airlines.^[6]

On 15 December 2004, Air China was successfully listed on the Hong Kong and London Stock Exchanges. The airline also listed its shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on 18 August 2006.

In 2006, Air China signed an agreement to join the Star Alliance. It became a member of the alliance on 12 December 2007 alongside Shanghai Airlines.

In July 2009, Air China acquired $19.3 million of shares from its troubled subsidiary Air Macau, lifting its stake in the carrier from 51% to 80.9%.^[7] One month later, Air China spent HK$6.3 billion (USD $813 million) to raise its stake in Cathay Pacific from 17.5 percent to 29.99 percent, expanding its presence in Hong Kong.^[8]

In April 2010, Air China completed the increase of shareholdings in Shenzhen Airlines and became the controlling shareholder of Shenzhen Airlines, which allowed Air China to further enhance its position in Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai and to achieve a more balanced domestic network.^[9]

On 2 December 2010, Air China received Spain's highest tourism industry award, the "Plaque for Tourist Merit". Air China was the first foreign airline to receive the award, which is given to organisations and individuals for contributing to the Spanish tourism industry.^[10]

On 23 December 2010, Air China became the first Chinese airline to offer combined tickets that include domestic flights and shuttle bus services to nearby cities. The first combined flight-shuttle bus ticket connected Tianjin via shuttle bus with domestic flights passing through Beijing.^[11]

On 12 November 2011, Air China announced that they will be offering Wi-Fi internet service on board its aircraft from 15 November 2011, making the first Chinese carrier to offer this service.^[12]

In 2012 Air China did a Facebook campaign in collaboration with Asian restaurants in Sweden where participants could check in using their smartphones and win flight tickets to Beijing. ^[13]

Corporate affairs[link]

Air China has its headquarters in Zone A of the Beijing Tianzhu Airport Industrial Zone in Shunyi District, Beijing.^[14]

Destinations[link]

Air China's route network extends throughout Asia to the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America from its main hub at Beijing Capital International Airport. It also currently reaches a significant number of Asian, Australian and European destinations from Shanghai. Some international routes operate from Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Dubai, Hangzhou, Kunming, Nanning and Xiamen.

On 10 December 2006, Air China started serving its first South American destination, São Paulo (via Madrid). This was the airline's longest direct flight. The service began with the Boeing 767-300 aircraft, but because of its popularity, the service has since been upgraded to an Airbus 330-200.

Air China recently introduced its new Airbus 330-300 aircraft for long haul operations beginning with services to Düsseldorf, Germany for the summer 2011 schedule. These aircraft provide the same two-class cabin standard as the Airbus 330-200 except that the economy cabin has no seat-back entertainment system installed (with the exception of the first two economy rows which also have increased legroom). Düsseldorf is now the third German destination on the Air China network. The airline will also launch a new Beijing-Milan service starting 15 June 2011. This service will complement the airline's existing Shanghai Pudong-Milan service. Deliveries of the carrier's 19 new Boeing 777-300ERs will commence in mid-2011, and Air China stated that the aircraft will form the "backbone of its future longhaul operations". The new Boeing 777-300ER will ultimately replace Boeing 747–400 on routes to U.S. destinations such as Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, but it is expected to first enter service on flights to Paris from March 2012. The carrier relaunched services from Beijing to Athens with a stopover in Munich using an A330-300 starting 15 May 2011.^[15] Air China has announced that it will commence a second daily Beijing-Los Angeles service with a Boeing 747-400M, while the existing daily Los Angeles service is to be upgraded to Boeing 747-400. The Boeing 777-300ER will replace both aircraft once sufficient numbers enter the fleet.^[16] Air China also announced that it will expand its operations in India with a Beijing-Mumbai route to plan to begin in September 2011 while the existing Delhi route is upgraded to A330.^[17] The airline, however, will launch service to Mumbai from Chengdu effective 2 May 2012.^[18] The airline announced that it plans to use the Boeing 777-300ER on one of its two daily Beijing-Los Angeles flights beginning 1 February 2012.^[19] Beginning late-2012 and in early 2013, the airline plans to replace the New York and San Francisco routes from the currently operated Boeing 747-400 to the Boeing 777-300ER.^[20]

Codeshare agreements[link]

Air China officially joined Star Alliance on 12 December 2007, which greatly expanded the alliance's presence in China. With the alliance's "Under One Roof" initiative, all Star Alliance members have moved their operation to the Terminal 3 of the Beijing Capital International Airport, Air China's main international hub. Air China has codeshare agreements with the following airlines.^[21]

^A Star Alliance member airline ^B OneWorld member airline ^C SkyTeam member airline

Fleet[link]

As of April 2011, the Air China fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 7.4 years:^[26][27][28]

Retired[link]

Phoenix Miles[link]

Air China lounge (next to the bamboo) at Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport, the airline's main hub

Phoenix Miles (Chinese: 国航知音; pinyin: guó háng zhī yīn, literally "Best friends of Air China"), is the frequent flyer program of Air China. This is the first frequent flyer program launched in China. It was designed to reward frequent flyers traveling internationally and domestically with Air China and its partner airlines.^[31]

Members earn mileages for travel on Air China, its affiliated partner airlines and partner airlines. The companion card may be upgraded to VIP status. There are special redemption rates for VIP members – Gold card members and Platinum card Members.

• Silver card members (Star Alliance Silver): earn 25% mileage bonus on eligible flights.
• Gold card members (Star Alliance Gold): earn 25% mileage bonus on eligible flights.
• Platinum card members (Star Alliance Gold): earn 50% mileage bonus on eligible flights.

Cargo[link]

Incidents and accidents[link]

This section requires expansion.

• 1 April 1999, Chicago O'Hare International Airport: a near-miss occurred at the intersection on Runways 14 right and 27 left between Korean Air Flight 36 and Air China 9018, both Boeing 747s. The Korean Air 747-400 pilot took evasive action by applying maximum power, rotating earlier than planned, and rolling slightly left once airborne to avoid the Air China Boeing 747 freighter. The aircraft missed each other by an estimated 75 feet (23 m). The actions of the Korean Air flight crew are accredited with saving everyone on board both aircraft.^[32]
• 11 September 2001: Air China Flight 985, a 747 from Beijing to San Francisco, was escorted by two U.S. F-15s onto the north runway at Vancouver International Airport during Operation Yellow Ribbon, apparently due to a communication problem.
• 15 April 2002: Flight 129, a Boeing 767-200ER from Beijing to Busan, South Korea, crashed into a hill while trying to land at Gimhae International Airport during inclement weather, killing 129 of the 166 people on board.^[33]

See also[link]

	People's Republic of China portal
	Companies portal
	Aviation portal

• Aviation
• Aviation industry in the People's Republic of China
• List of airlines of the People's Republic of China
• List of airports in the People's Republic of China
• List of companies of the People's Republic of China
• Transportation in the People's Republic of China

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Air China

• Official website
• Air China Business Jet

Profiles[link]

• Company profile Reuters
• Company profile Google Finance
• Company profile Yahoo! Finance

v t e Airlines of the People's Republic of China Authorities: Civil Aviation Administration of China Civil Aviation Department (Hong Kong) Civil Aviation Authority (Macau) Passenger Air China Air Macau2 Beijing Capital Airlines Chengdu Airlines China Express Airlines Cathay Pacific1 China Eastern Airlines China Flying Dragon Aviation China Southern Airlines China United Airlines Chongqing Airlines Dalian Airlines Dragonair1 East Star Airlines Grand China Air Grand China Express Air Hainan Airlines Hebei Airlines Henan Airlines Hong Kong Airlines1 Hong Kong Express Airways1 Jetstar Hong Kong1 Joy Air Juneyao Airlines Kunming Airlines Lucky Air Okay Airways Shandong Airlines Shanghai Airlines Shenzhen Airlines Sichuan Airlines Spring Airlines Tianjin Airlines Tibet Airlines West Air Xiamen Airlines Cargo Air China Cargo Air Hong Kong1 China Cargo Airlines China Postal Airlines Grandstar Cargo Great Wall Airlines Shanghai Airlines Cargo Shenzhen Donghai Airlines Yangtze River Express Airlines with footnotes are headquarted in Hong Kong1 or Macau2 Special Administrative Regions See also Defunct airlines of the People's Republic of China