Air China’s aircraft which sports the “AIR CHINA LOVES CHINA” color scheme arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport on September 28th and it will be operated on routes Beijing- Shanghai/ Guangzhou. It was painted to commemorate China’s National Day. The letter “C” in the word ” CHINA” is designed in such an artistic way as to wrap the character “love”, conveying to people of Chinese descent around the world the key message that Air China loves China.
According to an Air China executive, Air China’s predecessor was Civil Aviation Administration of China Beijing Branch established on January 1, 1955. Air China’s development in the past nearly 60 years is nothing short of a microcosm of the growing prosperity of the nation. The carrier has gone international and has joined the ranks of the world’s finest airlines.
The Boeing 777-300ER has become the leading type on Air China’s key international routes to European and American cities like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, Houston, Vancouver, Frankfurt and Paris and hot domestic routes from Beijing to Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou. Of long-range twin-engine jets, Boeing 777-300ER widebody aircraft has many pluses in terms of both range and passenger capacity and it is more fuel efficient and quieter.
Chinese airlines are renewing their fleet of long-range aircraft. With their state-of-the-art technologies and amenities, widebodies like Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 747-8 will become the leading types that will help Chinese airlines make inroads into long-haul international markets. In recent years, Air China has seen the number of widebodies delivered to it and the number of its international long-haul routes increasing rapidly, far ahead of the competition. By June 2014, Air China had a fleet of 512 aircraft of Boeing and Airbus families (including those operated by the companies Air China has a stake in). These aircraft are 6.22 years old on average. Air China has the youngest fleet in China and a reasonable fleet structure featuring both long-range and medium-range aircraft. New aircraft additions will help further extend Air China’s route network.
It is reported at this October, Air China’s newly delivered Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental widebody will be put into service. It is anticipated that by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan, Air China’s fleet (including the aircraft of the companies in which Air China has a stake in) will have reached about 665 aircraft. Currently it operates 323 passenger routes, serving 162 cities in 32 countries (regions).