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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