Info Center \ Exit & Entry Republic of China \ Chinese Airlines \

China Eastern Airlines


中国东方航空公司
China Eastern Airlines
IATA/ICAO	MU/CES
Founded	25 June 1988
Fleet size	377 (+200 orders)
Destinations	110
Headquarters	Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport
Website	Official website

China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (Chinese: 中国东方航空公司, colloquially known as 东航) is an airline headquartered in the China Eastern Airlines Building, on the grounds of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Changning District, Shanghai , China. It is a major Chinese airline operating international, domestic and regional routes. Its main hubs are at Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport with secondary hubs at Kunming Changshui International Airport and Xian Xianyang International Airport.

China Eastern Airlines is China's second-largest carrier by passenger numbers and the world's third-biggest carrier by market value. On 16 April 2010 China Eastern Airlines announced an initial agreement to join SkyTeam, and along with subsidiary Shanghai Airlines, became the 14th member on 21 June 2011.

In 2010 China Eastern Airlines carried 64.93 million domestic and international passengers with an average load factor of 78% and reported a net profit of CNY5.3 billion ($807 million) in 2010.

History

The airline was established on 25 June 1988 under the CAAC Huadong Administration. In 1997, China Eastern took over the unprofitable China General Aviation and also became the country's first airline to offer shares on the international market. It founded China Cargo Airlines in a joint venture with COSCO in 1998. In March 2001, it completed the takeover of Great Wall Airlines. China Yunnan Airlines and China Northwest Airlines merged into China Eastern Airlines in 2003.

The Chinese government has a majority ownership stake in China Eastern Airlines (61.64%), while some shares are publicly held (H shares, 32.19%); A shares, 6.17%). On 20 April 2006 the media broke the news of a possible sale of up to 20% of its stake to foreign investors, including Singapore Airlines, Emirates Airline and Japan Airlines, with Singapore Airlines confirming that negotiations were underway.

In March 2012 it was announced that China Eastern was forging a strategic alliance with the Qantas Group to set up Jetstar Hong Kong , a new low cost airline to be based at Hong Kong International Airport, which will commence operations in 2013. China Eastern will hold a 50% stake in the new airline, with the Qantas Group holding the other 50%, with a total investment of US$198 million expected.

Fleet

As of January 2013 China Eastern Airlines's fleet includes the following aircraft.

Aircraft	Total	Orders	Passengers				Notes
Aircraft	Total	Orders	P	J	Y	Total	Notes
Airbus A300-600R	10	—	—	24	250	274	To be phased out
Airbus A319-100	18	—	—	8	114	122
Airbus A320-200	131	100	—	8	150	158	New order on 23 November. Delivery 2014-2017 Largest A320 operator
Airbus A321-200	26	1	—	20	157	177
Airbus A330-200	13	8	—	10	240	264
Airbus A330-300	15	—	—	38	260	298
Airbus A340-600	5	—	8	42	272	322	To be phased out
Boeing 737-300	16	—	—	8	120	128	To be replaced by A320 family and 737 NG
Boeing 737-700	47	—	—	8	126	134
Boeing 737-800	22	43	—	8	162	170
Boeing 777-300ER	—	20	TBA				Replacing A340-600
Bombardier CRJ200	5	—	—	—	50	50
COMAC C919	—	20	TBA
Embraer ERJ 145	10	—	—	—	50	50
Total	302	165

Destinations

China Eastern Airlines has a strong presence on routes in Asia, North America and Australia. They also have flights to London and Stockholm. The airline looks to exploit the domestic market potential as it boosts flight frequencies from Shanghai to other Chinese cities.

The airline is also accelerating the pace of international expansion by increasing flight frequencies to international destinations. In 2007 it began operations to New York from Shanghai , making it the longest non-stop route for the airline. On 22 November China Eastern Airlines started twice-weekly seasonal flights on the Shanghai–Brisbane route but these flights didn't continue during 2010/11. Instead, the carrier operated charters to Cairns.

In addition, the carrier is planning to launch services to Rome and hopes to open more routes to Europe, US and Australia. The airline is seeking regulatory approval to begin flights to Hawaii.