CHINA
AIRLINES - The Chinese Airline industry
has gone through a lot of changes in recent years
with a number of the small carriers being acquired
to form larger companies. There are three state owned
airlines; Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China
Southern Airlines and a number of privately owned
airlines, the largest of which is Hainan Airlines.
Air China operates 322
routes including 56 international and 266 domestic
routes and offers 2472 scheduled services weekly.
Interestingly, it is still the only airline that flies
China's national flag on every aircraft and is called
upon to provide planes for the state leaders. It is
probably China's most well-known airline. China Eastern
Airlines is China's second largest airline. It is
based in Shanghai and flies to over 28 international
destinations and 80 domestic cities.
China Southern Airlines
is the largest airline in China. It operates over
320 routes, with more than 280 being domestic and
39 serving international destinations. China Southern
Airlines has the most far-reaching domestic route
network of all Chinese airlines. Hainan Airlines is
based in Beijing and is the fourth largest airline
in China. It has been the largest local airline for
some time and now has expanded its business to include
international travel after joining forces with the
Hungarian airline, Malev, which has given Hainan access
to over 43 foreign destinations.
Other notable airlines
in China include Xiamen Airlines, Shandong Airlines,
Sichuan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Wuhan Airlines
and Shenzhen Airlines. Xiamen Airlines has its headquarters
in the Fujian province and offers scheduled domestic
and international flights on nearly 100 routes within
China and to neighbouring countries. Shandong Airlines
has more than 240 routes to more than 60 Chinese cities
and also offers some international charter flights.
Sichuan Airlines is based in Chengdu and has over
50 routes to 35 Chinese cities.
Shanghai Airlines covers
27 of the larger cities in China from a selection
of over 80 routes. Wuhan Airline is located in Hubei
province and has flights to over 35 cities within
China. Shenzhen Airlines is China's first domestic
budget airline. |
