Qingdao Airlines

Qingdao Airlines
青岛航空
IATA ICAO Callsign
QW QDA SKY LEGEND
Founded June 2013 (2013-06)
Qingdao, Shandong, China
Commenced operations 26 April 2014 (2014-04-26)
Operating bases
Fleet size 9
Destinations 5
Parent company Nanshan Group (55%)
Key people
  • Song Zuowen (President)
Website www.qdairlines.com

Qingdao Airlines (Chinese: 青岛航空) is a startup Chinese airline that commenced operations on 26 April 2014.[1] The carrier is based at Qingdao Liuting International Airport.[2]

History

An application for the establishment of an airline based in the Shandong province was filed with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) by the Yantai-based Nanshan Group in May 2013.[3] Approval was received by the CAAC between that month and June 2013,[4] when Qingdao Airlines was formed.[1]

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Initially, the airline was owned by the Nanshan Group (55%), the Qingdao Transport Development Group (QTDG) (25%) and Shandong Airlines (20%). The initial capital of Qingdao Airlines was CNY1 billion (USD161 million).[1] In July 2015, Shandong Airlines transferred its shares to a subsidiary of the Nanshan Group; as of August 2015, the airline plans to sell the 25% of the shares held by QTDG in order to become fully private.[5]

Key people

As of April 2014, Song Zuowen was the president of the airline.[6]

Headquarters

The airline's headquarters are in Chengyang District, Qingdao.[7]

Destinations

Operations started on 26 April 2014 linking Qingdao with Chengdu.[1] As of May 2014, the airline's top five routes ranked by seat capacity were Qingdao–Shanghai, Qingdao–Beijing, Qingdao–Hangzhou, Qingdao–Shenyang and Qingdao–Dalian.[8] As of August 2015, Qingdao Airlines served the following destinations:[5]

The airline aims to become a ″boutique airline″ and has plans to start services to Shenzhen and Shenyang in the near future; Guangzhou and Shanghai are expected to be served in the longer term.[1]

Fleet

The Qingdao Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2016):[9]

Qingdao Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In Service Notes
Airbus A320-200 9

In September 2013, an order for five Airbus A320s and 18 A320neos was placed in a deal valued at USD2.5 billion;[10] these aircraft will be delivered in 2016.[2][11] The carrier phased in its first aircraft, a 152-seater Airbus A320, in early April 2014.[12][13] Qingdao Airlines plans to expand its fleet to 60 aircraft by 2020.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cantle, Katie (28 April 2014). "Qingdao Airlines launches inaugural flight". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 Waldron, Greg (25 September 2013). "China's Qingdao Airlines orders 23 A320s". Flightglobal. Singapore. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014.
  3. Hashim, Firdaus (20 May 2013). "Nanshan Group seek to establish Qingdao Airlines with two partners". Flightglobal. Singapore. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014.
  4. "15 new passenger airlines to launch in China. Though small in size, they will rattle the status quo". Centre for Aviation. 3 May 2014. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Cantle, Katie (5 August 2015). "Qingdao Airlines to sell 25% stake". Air Transport World. Archived 7 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. "Qingdao Airlines launches inaugural operations, establishing itself as a 'boutique airline'". Centre for Aviation. 28 April 2014. Archived from the original on 1 May 2014.
  7. "Qingdao Airlines. Retrieved on October 26, 2014. "办公地址:青岛市城阳区长城南路6号6栋"(Archive)
  8. "China's new airlines – Donghai, Loong & Qingdao – preferring to follow rather than innovate". CAPA Centre for Aviation. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016.
  9. "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2016): 12.
  10. Landauro, Inti (25 September 2013). "Airbus: Qingdao Airlines Orders 23 A320 Planes, Worth $2.25B at List Prices". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014.
  11. "Qingdao Airlines orders 23 A320 Family aircraft" (Press release). Airbus. 25 September 2013. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014.
  12. Blachly, Linda (10 April 2014). "Qingdao Airlines takes delivery of first A320". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014.
  13. "China's Qingdao Airlines takes delivery of its first A320" (Press release). Airbus. 10 April 2014. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014.
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