Sichuan Airlines

Sichuan Airlines
四川航空
Sìchuān Hángkōng
IATA ICAO Callsign
3U CSC SICHUAN
Founded 19 September 1986 (1986-09-19)
Commenced operations 14 July 1988 (1988-07-14)
Hubs
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer program Golden Panda
Subsidiaries
Fleet size 141
Destinations 93
Company slogan Safety is Our Priority[1]
Parent company Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. Group (40%)
China Southern Airlines (39%)
China Eastern Airlines (10%)
Air China Group(10%)
Headquarters Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Chengdu, Sichuan
Key people Li Haiying (Chairman)
Website global.sichuanair.com/HK-EN/
Sichuan Airlines Co. Limited
Chinese 四川航空股份有限公司
Literal meaning Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd.
Sichuan Airlines
Chinese 四川航空

Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 四川航空) is a Chinese airline based in Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, Sichuan Province,[2] operating mainly scheduled domestic and international flights out of Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Kunming Changshui International Airport.

History

The airline was established on 19 September 1986 as Sichuan Airlines Company, with operations starting on 14 July 1988 with flights between Chengdu and Wanzhou.

The airline was later restructured as Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. on 29 August 2002, in which the Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. Group became the major shareholder (40%). The other shareholders are China Southern Airlines (39%), China Eastern Airlines (10%), Air China Group (10%) and Chengdu Gingko Restaurant Co. (1%).[3][4]

Corporate affairs

Operations

Sichuan Airlines' corporate headquarters is located in its hub Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, Sichuan. Sichuan Airlines also uses secondary hubs at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Kunming Changshui International Airport.[3]

Subsidiary

Sichuan Airlines owns Chengdu Airlines as its subsidiary, which also has its hub at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. Chengdu Airlines was formerly named as United Eagle Airlines, and was changed to Chengdu Airlines to help lift the image of Chengdu on behalf of the city's government, according to an anonymous official of Sichuan Airlines. In late 2009, Sichuan Airlines sold some of its share of Chengdu Airlines to aircraft manufacturer Comac and the Chengdu Communications Investment Group. Chengdu Airlines is planned to become the first operator of the Comac ARJ21.[5]

Branding

Sichuan Airlines' logo is a haiyan (海燕) that is soaring with high temperament, symbolizing the company's entrepreneurial spirit. The circle represents the earth and the four wave patterns represents a hundred rivers going into the sea and carrying back virtues, corresponding to the core values of Sichuan Airlines' "truthfulness, goodness, beauty, love", symbolizing that Sichuan Airlines takes off from the inland and connects the stability of land civilization and the outward development of marine civilization.[6]

In addition to the logo, Sichuan Airlines gives emphasis to the Chinese character chuan (川) in which not only the character means river or a shortened name of Sichuan, but also that the character is defined as running through and gathering. It means that Sichuan Airlines is engaged in aviation flight and had built a world-class fleet that connects five continents, improving its network radiation capability and opening more international routes to build a bridge between Western China and the world and to integrate the world's corporate vision.[6]

Destinations

Sichuan Airlines is operating mainly flights in East Asia. (Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Guangzhou, Lhasa, Kunming, etc.)

Others destinations include Australia (Sydney, Melbourne), New Zealand (Auckland), Africa (Cairo), Western Asia (Dubai), Southeast Asia (Singapore, Bangkok), Europe (Prague, Tel Aviv, Zurich) and North America (Vancouver, Los Angeles), etc.

The airline launched its first long-haul overseas route in June 2012 with flights from its Chengdu hub to Vancouver, Canada. Its second long-haul flight, from Chengdu to Melbourne, Australia, was launched in February 2013 with three weekly services. On 17 October 2016 the airline launched twice-a-week service from Chengdu via Hangzhou to Los Angeles (LAX).[7] In 2016, Sichuan Airlines started twice-a-week flights to its first European destination, Prague.[8] On June 23, 2018, Sichuan Airlines launched service from Chengdu to Zurich via Prague. It was the first fifth freedom flight for the airline. It was also the only airline operating this route with Airbus A330 wide body aircraft.[9]

Codeshare agreements

Sichuan Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[10]

Fleet

Sichuan Airlines took delivery of their first Airbus A350 XWB in August 2018
The Sichuan Airlines Airbus A330 painted by "Wuliangye" was docked at Lhasa Gonggar Airport (the aircraft also took the first flight to Vancouver, Melbourne). [11][12]
The Economy Class of Sichuan Airlines Airbus A330

As of September 2018, Sichuan Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet consisting of the following aircraft:[13]

Sichuan Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
J Y Total
Airbus A319-100 23 — 8 124 132
Airbus A320-200 55 8 8 142 150
Airbus A320neo 5 19[14] 8 150 158[15]
Airbus A321-200 39 3 8 186 194
Airbus A321neo 6 3 TBA
Airbus A330-200 6 — 36 209 245
Airbus A330-300 6 — 36 265 301[16]
Airbus A350-900 1 13[17][18] 28 303 331 4 aircraft were originally ordered by SriLankan Airlines.
Comac C919 — 20 TBA
Total 141 65

Golden Panda

The Golden Panda Club is a frequent-flyer program launched by Sichuan Airlines. It can accumulate every flight mileage and enjoy free tickets and other product rewards. When the mileage reaches a certain standard, it can be upgraded to a VIP member and enjoy free upgrades. Free first class lounge waiting, free baggage allowance and other value-added services.[19]

Accidents and incidents

On 24 January 2003, Sichuan Airlines Flight 434, a Embraer EMB-145 from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, one man attempted to hijack the airplane and ignited home-made explosives, which injured a passenger and also himself. He was subdued by a security officer.[20]

On 14 May 2018, Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633, an Airbus A319 from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport to Lhasa Gonggar Airport, diverted to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport after a windshield on the copilot's side of the cockpit blew off, intrinsically similar to the British Airways Flight 5390 Incident, resulting in a loss of a part of the flight control panel. The flight crew made a difficult landing with decompression failure and extremely low temperature. The copilot and a flight attendant were reported injured.[21][22][23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "China Sichuan Airlines". Travel China Guide. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  2. ↑ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 30 March - 5 April 2004. 67. "Cheng Du Shuang Liu International Airport, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610202, China"
  3. 1 2 "Sichuan Airlines, China: Brief Introduction, Hub, Aircraft Type". www.travelchinaguide.com. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  4. ↑ "四川航空简介_四川航空股份有限公司简介-四川航空官网". www.sichuanair.com. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  5. ↑ "China's United Eagle renamed Chengdu Airlines". Flightglobal.com. 2010-01-20. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  6. 1 2 "川航标志介绍_四川航空品牌介绍-四川航空官网". www.sichuanair.com. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  7. ↑ "Sichuan Airlines launches first US service". anna.aero. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Sichuan Airlines Launches Non-stop10-hour Service between Chengdu and Prague". www.gochengdu.cn. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Sichuan Airlines adds Swiss service to Zurich, a route flown via Prague". anna.aero. 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  10. ↑ "Profile on Sichuan Airlines". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "成都首航温哥华 只需14小时(图)". 搜狐. 2012-06-23. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
  12. ↑ "川航成都-墨尔本航线首航　"五粮液号"执飞". 中国航空新闻网. 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
  13. ↑ "Sichuan Airlines fleet" (December 2017). Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  14. ↑ "Sichuan Airlines Becomes First Chinese Airline to Directly Order PurePower® Engines". Pratt & Whitney. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "China's Sichuan Airlines adds maiden A320neo". ch-aviation. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  16. ↑ 图片 首架A330-300加盟 川航A330飞机增至5架_民航新闻_民航资源网. cdn.carnoc.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  17. ↑ "Sichuan Airlines orders Airbus A350s". traveldailymedia. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  18. ↑ "China's Sichuan Airlines orders ten A350-900s". ch-aviation.com. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  19. ↑ "Service Guide of SCAL Golden Panda Club Member". global.sichuanair.com. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  20. ↑ "Sichuan Airlines Flight 434". Aviation Safely Network (ASN). 24 January 2003. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  21. ↑ Editorial, Reuters. "Sichuan Airlines jet makes emergency landing after cockpit..." U.S. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  22. ↑ "BREAKING: Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319 Loses Windscreen; Crew Injuries Reported | TheAvgeek". TheAvgeek. 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  23. ↑ "South China Morning Post: Sichuan Airlines pilots recall moment cockpit window blew out in mid-air". Retrieved 2018-05-27.

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