Great Wall Airlines

Great Wall Airlines

IATA IJ ICAO GWL Callsign GREAT WALL
Founded	2006
Ceased operations	2011
Hubs	Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Fleet size	4
Destinations	12
Parent company	China Great Wall Industry Corporation
Headquarters	Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Key people	Mr. Kuah Boon Kiam (President)

Great Wall Airlines Company Limited was a cargo airline based in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It operated cargo services to Europe, USA and Asia. Its main base was Shanghai Pudong International Airport.^[1] The airline was merged into China Cargo Airlines in 2011.

A Great Wall Airlines Boeing 747-400F landing in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

History

The airline launched its first flight from Shanghai to Amsterdam on 1 June 2006 with an initial frequency of six flights per week, becoming the first local-foreign partnership airline to take flight in China.^[2]

It was co-owned by China Eastern Airlines (51%), Singapore Airlines Cargo (25%), and Dahlia Investments (24%), a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings based in Singapore.^[3]

The airline suspended operations on 18 August 2006 after its parent company, China Great Wall Industry, had sanctions imposed on it by the United States Department of the Treasury for allegedly supplying missile technology to Iran.^[1] All aircraft were returned to Singapore Airlines Cargo. On 13 December 2006, it was announced that sanctions against Great Wall Airlines had been lifted, and that the airline would resume service in February 2007. The airline resumed scheduled services to Amsterdam (six times weekly), Incheon (six times weekly) and Mumbai/Chennai (three times weekly). As of April 30, 2007 Great Wall Airlines also launched scheduled services to Manchester via Amsterdam (two times weekly).

The airline operated to U.S stations including Seattle and Chicago beginning end of May 2008. It started services to Atlanta in 2009.

Merger

In the first half of 2011, the company was merged into China Cargo Airlines, together with Shanghai Airlines Cargo, which was the freight division of Shanghai Airlines.

Destinations

Great Wall Airlines operated flights to the following (as of January 2013):^[4]

•  People's Republic of China
  • Shanghai - Shanghai Pudong International Airport Hub
  • Tianjin - Tianjin Binhai International Airport
•  Netherlands
  • Amsterdam - Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
•  South Korea
  • Seoul - Incheon International Airport
•  United Kingdom
  • Manchester - Manchester Airport
•  United States
  • Anchorage - Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
  • Atlanta - Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
  • Chicago - O'Hare International Airport

Fleet

As of January 2013 the Great Wall Airlines fleet included:^[5]

• 2 Boeing 747-400BCF
• 2 Boeing 747-400F

Following the merger with China Cargo Airlines, all aircraft were transferred to China Cargo Airlines.

References

Airlines of China Authorities: Civil Aviation Administration of China Civil Aviation Department (Hong Kong) Civil Aviation Authority (Macau) Passenger Air China Air Macau2 Beijing Capital Airlines Cathay Pacific1 Chengdu Airlines China Express Airlines China Eastern Airlines China Flying Dragon Aviation China Southern Airlines China United Airlines Chongqing Airlines Dalian Airlines Donghai Airlines Dragonair1 East Star Airlines Fuzhou Airlines Grand China Air Grand China Express Air Hainan Airlines Hebei Airlines Hong Kong Airlines1 Hong Kong Express Airways1 Jetstar Hong Kong1 Joy Air Juneyao Airlines Kunming Airlines Loong Air Lucky Air Okay Airways Qingdao Airlines Shandong Airlines Shanghai Airlines Shenzhen Airlines Sichuan Airlines Spring Airlines Tianjin Airlines Tibet Airlines Urumqi Air West Air Xiamen Airlines Cargo Air China Cargo Air Hong Kong1 CDI Cargo Airlines China Cargo Airlines China Postal Airlines Donghai Airlines SF Airlines Uni-Top Airlines Yangtze River Express Airlines with footnotes are headquartered in Hong Kong1 or Macau2 Special Administrative Regions See also Defunct airlines of China