Airlines
Mainland accepted 38 new jets in August
September 15th 2016
Mainland Chinese carriers have taken delivery of 38 new jetliners in August, according to CARNOC data, including 14 B737-800s, ten A320s, five A321s, two B787-9s, two B777Fs, two E190/95s, a B777-300ER, an A330-300 and a Bombardier CRJ900. Read More »
China Eastern Airlines received five aircraft, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Spring Airlines and Lucky Air got three each, Air China, Donghai Airlines, Shandong Airlines, SF Airlines and Capital Airlines took delivery of two aircraft each, while Xiamen Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, 9 Air, GX Airlines, Colorful Guizhou Airlines, Chengdu Airlines, Ruili Airlines, Hongtu Airlines and Hebei Airlines each boosted their fleets with one new addition.
Needless to say, the deliveries are continuing this month. Last Friday, Sichuan Airlines took delivery of its 110th Airbus aircraft, an A321, coinciding with its 30th anniversary. Xiamen Airlines subsidiary, Jiangxi Airlines, also on Friday, received its first direct-delivered B737-800, bringing the airline’s fleet to four. The new addition was ferried to the carrier’s Nanchang base from Seattle via Honolulu. Jiangxi Airlines currently flies to twelve domestic destinations.
Lucky Air this week agreed to lease two B737-700s for twelve years from fellow HNA Group subsidiary, Tianjin Bohai Leasing, for $1.35 million a quarter. LCC Lucky Air now operates twelve B737-700s, eleven -800s, five A320s and three A319s.
Boeing on Tuesday released its latest fleet forecast for China, estimating the Mainland will require 6,810 new airplanes over the next 20 years at a total value of $1.025 trillion, making it the first trillion dollar aviation market in the manufacturer’s forecast history. Boeing believes 75% of these aircraft, or 5,110 frames, will be single-aisles.
On the route front, Beijing Capital Airlines, an HNA Group affiliate, has applied for traffic rights with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for a thrice-weekly Beijing-Qingdao-Melbourne A330 service, and a twice-weekly Hangzhou-Wuhan-St. Petersburg A330 route from December and February, respectively.
China Southern plans to fly three times a week between Guangzhou-Changsha-Moscow using B787 or A330 equipment from December, and daily between Shenzhen and Brisbane, also using B787 or A330 aircraft, from November. This is in addition to the previously reported Shenzhen-Melbourne flight launching later this month. Hainan Airlines this week said it had received all relevant approvals from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to launch thrice-weekly Beijing-Las Vegas B787-8 services from December 2.
On a similar note, Hainan Airlines’ new twice-weekly Changsha-Sydney A330-200 flight touched down in NSW on Tuesday, to be complemented with a twice-weekly Xian-Sydney A330-200 flight launching on Saturday (September 17).
“Hainan Airlines has identified Australia as a strategic choice in advancing our growth and development as a global aviation player, and Sydney is Australia’s largest city, economic and tourism hub,” said Hou Wei, its vice-president of marketing.
