China Eastern Airlines

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China Eastern Airlines 中国东方航空公司 Zhōngguó Dōngfāng Hángkōng Gōngsī
IATA MU	ICAO CES	Callsign CHINA EASTERN
Founded		1988
Hubs		Shanghai Hongqiao Airport Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Focus cities		Kunming Wujiaba International Airport Xi'an Xianyang International Airport Nanjing Lukou International Airport Wuhan Tianhe International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Eastern Miles
Fleet size		194 (+61 orders)
Destinations		103
Headquarters		Shanghai, China
Key people		Li Fenghua (Chairman)
Website: http://www.ce-air.com

China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (中国东方航空股份有限公司) (SEHK: 0670 NYSE: CEA) is an airline based in Shanghai, China. It is a major Chinese airline operating international, domestic and regional routes. Its main bases are Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport. It currently does not belong to an alliance, but may be courted by Oneworld [1]. It uses the IATA Code of MU.

Contents 1 History 2 Incidents and accidents 3 Recent Disputes 4 Destinations 5 Fleet 6 Aircraft Orders 7 See also 8 External links 9 References

[edit] History

The airline was established on 25 June 1988, on the basis of the CAAC Huadong Administration. In 1997, China Eastern took over loss-making 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 China Ocean Shipping in 1998. In March 2001 it completed the takeover of Air Great Wall. China Yunnan Airlines and China Northwest Airlines merged into China Eastern Airlines in 2002.

China Eastern Airlines is owned by the Chinese government (61.64%), publicly held H shares (32.19%) and publicly held A shares (6.17%) and has 16,435 employees (at January 2005). On 20 April 2006, the media broke news on the possible sale of up to 20% of its stake to foreign investors, including Singapore Airlines, Emirates Airline and Japan Airlines, with the former confirming that negotiations were underway [2] [3].

On July 27, 2006, Harmony Airways and China Eastern Airlines reached a code-share agreement. Harmony will code-share on China Eastern flights from Vancouver to Shanghai, and China Eastern will code-share on Harmony flights from Vancouver to Calgary and Toronto.

[edit] Incidents and accidents

• On August 15, 1989, a China Eastern flight from Shanghai to Nanchang, an Y-7 (Reg. B-3417) crashed on take off, due to No.2 engine failure, killing 34 of 40 on board.
• On April 6, 1993, China Eastern Flight 583, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-11, (Chinese Reg. B-2171), from Beijing to Los Angeles with an intermediate stop in Shanghai, had an inadvertent deployment of the leading edge wing slats while cruising, approximately 950nm south of Shemya, Alaska, due to possible unintentionally touching of the plane's flap/slat handle. The plane progressed through several violent pitch oscillations and lost 5,000 feet of altitude. Two passengers were killed, and 149 passengers and 7 crewmembers were injured, including one passenger who was paralyzed, and one flight attendant who sustained severe brain damage.
• On October 26, 1993, Flight 5398 from Shenzhen to Fuzhou, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 (Reg. B-2103) jetliner crashed near Fuzhou airport, after a failed attempt to go around on approach, killing 2 of 80 on board.
• On September 10, 1998, Flight 586 from Shanghai to Beijing, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 (Reg. B-2173) widebody jetliner crash landed at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport due to nose gear failure, none injured.
• On November 21, 2004, Flight 5210 from Baotou to Shanghai, a Bombardier CRJ-200 (Reg. B-3072) small passenger jet crashed in Inner Mongolia one minute after departure, killing all 53 occupants.
• On 7 April 2005, a China Eastern Airbus A340-300 (Reg. B-2383) aircraft at London Heathrow Airport suffered a significant tailscrape at take-off and the crew, although informed by the control tower, elected to continue to Shanghai, China (ref: Flight International, April 19, 2005; July 2005).
• On May 13, 2006, China Eastern Airbus A340-600 (Reg. B-6055) flight 5042 from Seoul to Shanghai experienced a tire blowout while landing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. None of the passengers suffered any injuries. [4][5]

[edit] Recent Disputes

Recently there has been talks of internal corruption as 3 high level managers have been sacked. Also huge loss margins has been reported as the airline take drastic actions to save money.

[edit] Destinations

Further information: China Eastern Airlines Destinations

[edit] Fleet

The China Eastern Airlines fleet includes the following 194 aircrafts, plus 61 orders (as of March 2007):

• 8 Airbus A300-600R
• 13 Airbus A319-100 (plus 12 on order)
• 63 Airbus A320-200 (plus 24 on order)
• 6 Airbus A321-200 (plus 9 on order)
• 4 Airbus A330-200 (plus 1 on order)
• 7 Airbus A330-300 (plus 8 on order)
• 5 Airbus A340-300
• 5 Airbus A340-600
• 23 Boeing 737-300
• 29 Boeing 737-700 (plus 3 on order)
• 7 Boeing 737-800 (plus 1 on order)
• 3 Boeing 767-300ER
• 5 Bombardier CRJ-200LR
• 7 Embraer ERJ 145LI (plus 3 on order)
• 9 McDonnell Douglas MD-90

In March 2007, China Eastern Airlines fleet age is 6.4 years old.

Previously operated:

• 3 Airbus A310-200 (at September 2006)
• 2 Airbus A310-300 (at December 1994)
• 5 McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (at August 2005)
• 15 McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (at October 2000)
• 3 BAe 146-100 (at December 2003)
• 4 BAe 146-300 (at April 2005)
• 10 Fokker F100 (at October 1999)

[edit] Aircraft Orders

• China Eastern Airlines said it has signed an agreement to purchase 5 Airbus A319 aircraft in a deal worth 1.9 billion yuan (230 million dollars) and will take delivery of the 124-seater planes between February 2006 and July 2007. It also has orders in place for 4 Airbus A320 and 11 Airbus A321 aircraft.
• China Eastern has been on a buying spree recently, signing a deal with US aerospace giant Boeing for 15 of its new Boeing 787 jets in January. Last year, it spent two billion dollars on 20 Airbus A330s to replenish its fleet in response to robust air travel demand.
• China Eastern also recently added 3 737-700 and 1 737-800 order as of December 30th, 2005 to its order backlog.

[edit] See also

• China Cargo Airlines
• Harmony Airways

[edit] External links

• China Eastern Airlines
• London Office - China Eastern Airlines
• Europe and North America - China Eastern Airlines
• Eastern Airlines Fleet Details
• China Eastern Airlines Fleet Age
• China Eastern Airlines Passenger Opinions

[edit] References