Air China

Early years

Air China was established and commenced operations on 1 July 1988 as a result of the Chinese government's decision in late 1987 to split the operating divisions of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) into six separate airlines: Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, China Northern, China Southwest, and China Northwest. Air China was assigned primary responsibility for intercontinental flights and took over CAAC's long-haul aircraft (Boeing 707s, 747s, and 767s) and routes.

In January 2001, the former CAAC's six airlines agreed on a merger plan, according to which Air China was to acquire China Southwest Airlines. Before this acquisition, Air China was the country's fourth largest domestic airline. The merger created a group with assets of 56 billion yuan (US$8.63 billion) and a fleet of 118 aircraft. In October 2002, Air China consolidated with the China National Aviation Holding and China Southwest Airlines.

On 15 December 2004, Air China was successfully listed on the Hong Kong and London Stock Exchanges. In 2006, Air China signed an agreement to join Star Alliance. It became a member of the alliance on 12 December 2007 alongside Shanghai Airlines.

In July 2009, Air China acquired $19.3 million of shares from its troubled subsidiary Air Macau, lifting its stake in the carrier from 51% to 81%. One month later, Air China spent HK$6.3 billion (US$813 million) to raise its stake in Cathay Pacific from 17.5% to 30%, expanding its presence in Hong Kong.

Development since 2010

In April 2010, Air China completed the increase of shareholdings in Shenzhen Airlines and became the controlling shareholder of Shenzhen Airlines, allowing Air China to further enhance its position in Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai, as well as achieve a more balanced domestic network.

On 2 December 2010, Air China received Spain's highest tourism industry award, the "Plaque for Tourist Merit." Air China was the first foreign airline to receive the award, which is given to organisations and individuals contributing to the Spanish tourism industry.

On 23 December 2010, Air China became the first Chinese airline to offer combined tickets that include domestic flights and shuttle bus services to nearby cities. The first combined flight-shuttle bus ticket connected Tianjin via shuttle bus with domestic flights passing through Beijing.

Air China began offering free Wi-Fi internet service on board its aircraft on 15 November 2011, making it the first Chinese carrier to offer this service. However the service is not allowed on smartphones, but only on tablets and laptops.

Destinations

Air China's route network extends throughout Asia to the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America from its hubs at Beijing Capital International Airport and Chengdu Tianfu International Airport. It also currently reaches a significant number of Asian, Australian and European destinations from Shanghai. Some international routes operate from Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Hangzhou, Kunming and Shenzhen. It is one of the few world airlines that fly to all six habitable continents.

On 10 December 2006, Air China began serving its first South American destination, São Paulo-Guarulhos (via Madrid-Barajas). This is the airline's longest direct flight. The service was initiated with a Boeing 767-300ER, but due to increased demand, the service's aircraft has been modernized to an Airbus A330-200, and later to a Boeing 787-9.

In summer 2011, Air China introduced the new Airbus A330-300 on long-haul services, starting with Düsseldorf, Germany. The aircraft featured the same two-class layout as the Airbus A330-200, but the economy cabin lacked seat-back entertainment, except in the first two rows, which also offered extra legroom. Düsseldorf became the third German destination in Air China's network. The airline launched a new Beijing-Milan-Malpensa service on 15 June 2011, complementing the airline's existing service to Milan from Shanghai.

Deliveries of the carrier's 19 new Boeing 777-300ERs commenced in mid 2011, with the aircraft forming the new "backbone of its future long-haul operations." The new Boeing 777-300ERs replaced the Boeing 747-400s on routes to U.S. destinations such as Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, but was expected to first enter service on flights to Paris from March 2012. The Boeing 777-300ER began to replace most 747 services once sufficient numbers entered the fleet. Air China expanded its operations in India with a Beijing-Mumbai route in September 2011, while the existing Delhi route was upgraded to the A330. The airline also launched service to Mumbai from Chengdu on 2 May 2012. The airline began using the Boeing 777-300ER on one of its two daily Beijing-Los Angeles flights on 1 June 2012. From late 2012 to early 2013, the airline replaced the Boeing 747-400s servicing the New York and San Francisco routes with the Boeing 777-300ER. With the addition of the Boeing 777-300ERs on the US routes, Air China increased frequency on the Beijing-New York route, changing the flights from 7 to 11 flights a week by adding two new flights to the route (CA989/990). On 21 January 2014, the airline launched its service to Hawaii with flights from Beijing to Honolulu, the first nonstop flights between the two cities. The airline also increased the frequency of service on the Beijing-Houston Intercontinental route from four times weekly to daily service from 30 March 2014. Beginning 10 June 2014, Air China introduced new nonstop service from Beijing to Washington-Dulles, operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. As of 29 September 2015, Air China also introduced a three times weekly flight to Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in a codeshare with Air Canada. The Montreal flight was extended to Havana from 27 December 2015.

Accidents and incidents

On 15 April 2002, Air China Flight 129, a Boeing 767-200ER from Beijing to Busan, South Korea, crashed into a hill while trying to land at Gimhae International Airport during inclement weather, killing 129 of the 166 people on board.

On 27 August 2019, Air China Flight 183, an Airbus A330-343X from Beijing to Tokyo, Japan, was damaged beyond repair due to a cargo fire while on the ground at Beijing just shortly before departure. No one was injured.

Controversies and passenger incidents

Wings of China incident

Air China's inflight magazine Wings of China faced accusations of racism when they stated "London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis, and black people." in their September 2016 issue. On 8 September 2016, Air China issued an apology. Air China Media, which publishes the Wings of China magazine, said it wished to apologise to "readers and passengers who are feeling uncomfortable". It added: "This invariably inappropriate description... was purely a work mistake by the editors and it's not the magazine's views... We will immediately recall this entire issue of magazines and draw lessons from this incident."

Use of Russian airspace

Due to the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, European carriers have ceased to use Russian airspace, significantly increasing the length, and therefore cost, of their flights to and from China. Air China continues to operate flights to and from Russia and this strategy has bolstered its dominance in the China–Europe market, but brought accusations of unfair competition.