Spring Airlines

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Spring Airlines
春秋航空公司
Chūnqīu Hángkōng Gōngsī
IATA
9C
ICAO
CQH
Callsign
AIR SPRING
Founded 2004
Hubs Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport
Focus cities Sanya Phoenix International Airport
Fleet size 8
Destinations 23
Parent company Spring Airlines Ltd.
Headquarters Shanghai, China
Key people Wang Zhenghua
Website: http://www.china-sss.com/

Spring Airlines (Chinese: 春秋航空; pinyin: Chūnqiū Hángkōng; abbreviated 春航) is a low-cost airline based in Shanghai, China. It is the first low-cost airline in China. While the company has adopted the English name "Spring Airlines", the Chinese characters literally mean "Spring and Autumn Airlines". It was given the approval to be established on 26 May 2004, and started operations on 18 July 2005.

Contents

[edit] History

The airline took delivery of its first aircraft, an Airbus A320 (formerly of Lotus Air), on 12 July 2005, at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. It started operations with a flight between Shanghai and Yantai on 18 July, 2005. Daily flights to Guilin were also initiated. Spring Airlines is the aviation subsidiary of the Shanghai Spring International Travel Service.

To keep operating costs low, Spring sells tickets exclusively from its website and offers no complimentary on-board meals, but only bottled water on flights. However, customers can still purchase meals on board. In December 2006, the airline offered a 1-yuan promotional price which caused trouble with government officials[1].

In early 2007, the airline announced a 2006 net profit of CNY20 million ($2.6 million) on revenue exceeding CNY500 million. It also revealed its intention to seek financial investors. In 2004, a proposal by Singapore Airlines to acquire a 40 per cent stake had been rejected[2].

[edit] Destinations

[edit] Fleet

The Spring Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of March 2008:

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "China's Spring Airlines", Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 1, 2007.
  2. ^ Air Transport World 9 May 2007