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Sichuan Airlines

Sichuan Airlines is the largest airline in Western China, headquartered in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

The airline is based in Chengdu, operating mainly scheduled domestic and international flights out of Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Kunming Changshui International Airport. Sichuan Airlines is also the first airline in mainland China to operate the Airbus A320 and among the first batch of airlines in mainland China to operate the Airbus A350.

History

Sichuan Airlines was established on 19 September 1986 as Sichuan Airlines Company, operating its first flight on 14 July 1988 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 largest 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]

In 2018, the airline was the 42nd largest airline group in the world ranked by traffic.[5]

Corporate affairs

Operations

Sichuan Airlines' corporate headquarters are located in its hub at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Shuangliu District, Chengdu, Sichuan.[6]

Subsidiary

Sichuan Airlines owns Chengdu Airlines, which also has its hub at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. Previously known as United Eagle Airlines, the airline was renamed 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 was the first operator of the Comac ARJ21.[7]

Branding

Sichuan Airlines' logo is a haiyan 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.[8]

In addition to the logo, Sichuan Airlines gives emphasis to the Chinese character "" 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 has 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.[8]

Destinations

Sichuan Airlines mainly operates flights in East Asia, though other destinations include cities in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Western Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America.

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).[9] In 2016, Sichuan Airlines started twice-a-week flights to its first European destination, Prague.[10] On 23 June 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.[11]

Codeshare agreements

Sichuan Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[12]

Fleet

Current fleet

As of October 2025, Sichuan Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet composed of the following aircraft:[16][17]

Special liveries

Former fleet

Golden Panda

The Golden Panda Club is a frequent-flyer program launched by Sichuan Airlines. Members can accumulate flight mileage and enjoy free tickets and other product rewards. After flying a certain number of miles, members can be upgraded to VIP members and enjoy free upgrades, free first-class lounge waiting, free baggage allowance, and other value-added services.[23]

Accidents and incidents

  • 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 1990 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.[24][25][26] Later, the incident was adapted into the film "The Captain (2019 film)" and was also featured in the documentary series Mayday.

See also

External links

References

  1. 7340.2F with Change 1 and Change 2 and Change 3 Federal Aviation Administration, 15 September 2016, retrieved 22 June 2019^
  2. Sichuan Airlines on ch-aviation.com ch-aviation.com, retrieved 21 November 2023^
  3. Sichuan Airlines, China: Brief Introduction, Hub, Aircraft Type www.travelchinaguide.com, retrieved 2018-09-21^
  4. http://www.sichuanair.com/about-introduce.html Sichuan Air, retrieved 2018-09-21^
  5. World Airline Rankings Flight Global, 2019^
  6. - Alternate address: "NO. 68，4th JiChang South Road, ShuangLiu District, Cheng Du City, SiChuan Province" Privacy Policy Sichuan Airlines, retrieved 2024-04-06 Scal.html Sichuan Airlines, retrieved 2022-03-24^
  7. China's COMAC delivers first ARJ21 jet plane to domestic airline Reuters, November 28, 2015, retrieved 2017-06-30^
  8. http://www.sichuanair.com/about-brand.html Sichuan Airlines, retrieved 2018-09-22^
  9. Sichuan Airlines launches first US service anna.aero, 18 October 2016, retrieved 19 October 2016^
  10. Sichuan Airlines Launches Non-stop10-hour Service between Chengdu and Prague www.gochengdu.cn, retrieved 24 March 2017^
  11. Sichuan Airlines adds Swiss service to Zurich, a route flown via Prague anna.aero, 2018-06-27, retrieved 2018-08-18^
  12. Profile on Sichuan Airlines CAPA, Centre for Aviation, retrieved 2 November 2016^
  13. Sichuan Airlines Adds A350 Beijing – Urumqi Service in NS25^
  14. China Southern Airlines/Sichuan Airlines expands Codeshare network^
  15. Sichuan Airlines/Turkish Airlines Begins Reciprocal Codeshare Service From late-Nov 2023^
  16. Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One) Airliner World^
  17. Orders and Deliveries www.airbus.com, retrieved 2025-11-07^
  18. Ivan Nadalet. China's Sichuan Airlines adds maiden A320neo ch-aviation, retrieved 7 September 2017^
  19. China's Sichuan Airlines' A321neo(LR)s get ETOPS clearance ch-aviation^
  20. http://cdn.carnoc.com/list/247/247641.html cdn.carnoc.com, retrieved 22 April 2018^
  21. China's Jiangxi Cargo, Sichuan Airlines to add A330P2Fs ch-aviation, 17 February 2022^
  22. Sichuan Airlines Fleet of Tupolev Tu-154 rzjets.net, retrieved 2019-12-02^
  23. Service Guide of SCAL Golden Panda Club Member global.sichuanair.com, retrieved 2018-09-22^
  24. Sichuan Airlines jet makes emergency landing after cockpit windshield breaks off reuters.com, retrieved 2018-05-14^
  25. BREAKING: Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319 Loses Windscreen; Crew Injuries Reported TheAvgeek, 2018-05-14, retrieved 2018-05-14^
  26. South China Morning Post: Sichuan Airlines pilots recall moment cockpit window blew out in mid-air YouTube, 22 May 2018, retrieved 2018-05-27^