Today’s Air China can trace its origins to 1988 when Air China International Corporation was established. In October 2002, based on an industry reform plan formulated by the central government, Air China International Corporation, China Aviation Corporation and China Southwest Airlines merged, and the surviving company was still called Air China International Corporation. In September 30, 2004, Air China International Corporation was rebranded as Air China Limited. In December 2004 Air China Limited became a publicly traded company on Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK: 0753) and London Stock Exchange (LSE: AIRC).
The corporate logo of Air China depicts phoenix, a legendary bird worshiped by the nation since ancient times as a symbol of luck and happiness. Chinese ancient literature contains constant references to the bird which “flies from the eastern Happy Land over mountains and seas and bestows luck and happiness upon all parts of the world.” With imagination stretched a bit, the way the logo is laid out recalls the English word “VIP”. The deep red color is used since it’s associated with anything happy and lucky in Chinese culture. The message conveyed by the whole design is that Air China commits itself to promoting the development of the country’s airline industry and offering pleasant travel experiences to passengers. For us, phoenix symbolizes a spirit. At the core of the “Phoenix Spirit” is the will to “serve the world, to lead and move forward to higher goals.” Our vision is to become “A leading carrier in the world”. Our mission stresses “operational safety, customer orientation, steady growth, people development and fulfillment of responsibilities”. These values remind us that we should “use a people-oriented approach to our business, take on social responsibilities, have the will to succeed and enjoy flying”. Our brand positioning is to be “a professional, trusted, internationally respected Chinese brand closely associated with China”. The design also features the calligraphic version of Air China’s Chinese name, a reproduction of the handwriting by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s drastic social and economic transformation who laid the foundation for the country’s economic power.
Air China is China's sole flag carrier and a member of the world’s largest airline alliance, Star Alliance. It was previously the official airline partner for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and has been selected as an official partner for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Air China is China's largest airline by brand value (Valued at CNY 167,876,000,000 by World Brand Lab in June 2019) and is a market leader in air passenger transportation, air cargo and other aviation services.
Air China is responsible for the task of providing special flight services for China’s leaders when they go on foreign trips. It is also responsible for chartering special flights within China for many foreign heads of state and government leaders, thereby demonstrating Air China’s exclusive status as the national flag carrier. Headquartered in Beijing, Air China has several branch offices, including in Southwest China, Zhejiang, Chongqing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hubei, Guizhou, Tibet and Wenzhou. It also has bases in Eastern and Southern China. Air China’s main subsidiaries include Shenzhen Airlines Co., Ltd., Dalian Airlines Co., Ltd., Beijing Airlines Co., Ltd., Air China Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd., Air Macau Co., Ltd., Air China Import and Export Co., Ltd., Chengdu Falcon Aircraft Engineering Service Co., Ltd., and Air China Shantou Industrial Development Company. Its major joint ventures include Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corporation Limited (Ameco) and Sichuan International Aviation Engine Maintenance Co., Ltd. Air China also holds shares in companies including Cathay Pacific and Shandong Airlines, and is the largest shareholder in Shandong Airlines Group Co., Ltd. Beijing Air Catering Co., Ltd., which was once controlled by Air China, now operates as a subsidiary of China Aviation Investment Co., Ltd. The company was established on May 1, 1980 in Beijing as the first joint venture launched after the enactment of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures.
As of December 31, 2019 Air China (including its holding company) owns a total of 699 aircrafts of various types, mainly by Boeing and Airbus, with an average lifespan of 6.96 years. The company’s passenger routes have expanded to 770, including 137 international, 27 regional and 606 domestic routes. The company flies to 43 countries (regions) and 187 cities, including 65 international, 3 regional, and 119 domestic cities. Through its collaboration with other Star Alliance member airlines, the company’s route network has further extended to 1317 destinations in 195 countries.
Air China is committed to providing passengers with "Four Cs" service: Credibility, Convenience, Comfort and Choice. Its “PhoenixMiles” frequent flyer program has the longest history of any frequent flyer program in China. By integrating frequent flyer members from several brands in which it controls or holds shares into the PhoenixMiles brand, the number of PhoenixMiles members reached 63,595,300 in December 2019. Air China was the first company in the Chinese civil aviation industry to launch two classes of service on medium-to-long distance international flights, based around “lie-flat seats” and “exclusive service throughout the whole flight,” which provides passengers with an outstanding, comfortable, and convenient travel space and full-flight service. Air China has innovated services with its customers in mind, releasing a series of products including an “in-flight butler” service and “Air China Wireless.” Air China has a strong domestic and international route network and sales network, and an extensive high quality customer base. It has become the preferred airline for many Chinese government agencies and corporate business customers.
Air China has a team of pilots and flight attendants with excellent business skills, precise work methods and good service delivery. Its award-winning flight team has received many honors, including the “ICAO Medal of Honor,” “National Safe Production Advanced Unit,” and “Safe Flight Model Organization.” The team has set world-class flight safety records: completing a successful polar flight, creating a miraculous 55-year safe flight record (beginning in 1965) on the Chengdu - Lhasa route, which was once regarded as a “restricted air zone” by the international civil aviation industry due to its universally acknowledged degree of flight difficulty, and performing successful night flights in 2008. The cabin crews include a wide range of nationalities, and professional and dedicated Japanese, South Korean, German, Russian, Thai, and Italian flight attendants have joined the teams. They are a passenger’s best friend in the sky. They continue to provide passengers with "Four Cs” service: Credibility, Convenience, Comfort and Choice. The quality of their service is consistently praised by passengers.
Air China aircraft are maintained by a high-calibre team of engineers in accordance with strict industry standards. In June 2015, Air China Technics and Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co. Ltd. merged to form the new Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co. Ltd., also known as New Ameco. Headquartered in Beijing, this joint venture comprises four business units (Beijing Base, North China Route Centre, Chengdu Branch and Southwest Route Centre), 17 operations and management support divisions, as well as route maintenance branches in Chongqing, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Hohhot, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guiyang, Guangzhou and Wenzhou. New Ameco has over 160 maintenance sites in China and overseas, enabling it to offer MRO services to customers across the globe. New Ameco has obtained aircraft maintenance licenses in almost 30 countries and regions, including from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It is also authorized by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to act as a Designated Modification Design Organisation Representative (DMDOR). With 11 large hangars and state-of-the-art MRO facilities, New Ameco's extensive MRO capabilities have won it the trust of over 100 airlines around the world. Since the late 1980s, Air China's maintenance team have made important breakthroughs on nearly 20 Chinese maintenance projects and received national or CAAC awards for more than 100 R&D projects, contributing significantly to progress in China's aircraft maintenance sector.
We are a flight operations control expert. Our flights around the world are under the watchful eyes of our highly professional flight controllers at any minute. Our computerized flight plan system retrieves information from the aircraft performance database, global navigation database, global airport database and high altitude weather database, selects the best flight routes, develop flight plans, evaluate aircraft performance and confirm flight qualifications, ensuring strict compliance with the flight safety regulations before any aircraft is given the green light to take off. We have developed our own proprietary Operations & Management System, which is integrated with the Satellite Communications System, Air-Ground Data Communication System and Shortwave Radio System. It has made us the first domestic carrier with super remote monitoring and control capabilities.
We are a select service supplier for other domestic and foreign carriers at Beijing Capital International Airport. We serve departing and arriving passengers, transit passengers, passengers with special service request, VIPs, and First Class/Business Class passengers. We are the first domestic carrier to introduce the self-service check-in devices and self-service baggage check-in devices at airports. We provide aircraft load balancing service, loading and unloading service on the tarmac, cabin cleaning service and special equipment maintenance and repair. In particular, we offer load balancing services at over 100 domestic airports, and we are the first domestic carrier with a central load balancing operations model.
Air China attaches great importance to the recruitment and training of talent. Air China's Flight Training Squadron is responsible for the training and management of trainee and newly-recruited pilots. Flight training is carried out at our Flight Operations Training Centre, which boasts world-class instructors and facilities, offering a steady supply of high-calibre, proficient pilots. On the cabin service front, Air China’s Crew Training Centre is China's first large-scale multifunctional training centre for flight crew, and the first such training centre to be accredited by the CAAC, thus earning itself the nickname of “Asia’s No. 1 Cabin”. The Crew Training Centre is staffed by a team of full and part-time trainers hand-picked from Air China's elite cabin crew team, offering a wealth of training and cabin service experience to share with trainees.
Air China’s management standards have improved significantly. The company is a Chinese civil aviation leader and its brand value continues to increase. In 2019 Air China was named by World Brand Lab as one of the “World's 500 Most Influential Brands” for the 13th consecutive year, and was the only Chinese civil aviation company on the list. Air China has also received the “No. 1 Chinese Brand Award” in the Aviation category and the “Annual Chinese Cultural Brand Award” for 13 years consecutively. In June 2019, Air China was named number 21 on World Brand Lab's list of China's Top 500 Most Valuable Brands, ranking first among Chinese airlines. In September 2017, Air China was named one of “Asia's 500 Most Influential Brands”, the top-ranked Chinese airline. Air China was honored with the title of "Outstanding Enterprise for Brand Building 2013-2015" by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Air China was also listed as one of the “Top 10 Global Brands of China” by the British Financial Times and US-based consulting firm McKinsey & Company. As part of the China Brand Festival China Brand Rating Program, Air China won the title of "Top 25 Exemplary Brands of China—Brand China Huapu Annual Award.” The company has also won the title of “Best Chinese Airline,” the annual “Best Airline Award,” the Pathfinder Award, the “Best Corporate Image Prize,” and the “National Enterprise Culture Outstanding Achievement Award,” and was named among the “Top 10 Chinese Economic Leaders”, as part of different social rankings.
Air China consciously fulfills its social responsibilities and always views taking public responsibility as its own personal responsibility. Through its own sustainable development, it creates a steady source of tax revenue and provides employment opportunities for the country. The company actively participates in public welfare practices, devoting itself to disaster relief, and making a contribution to both the country and society at large. Air China’s leading group has previously been named a “National Advanced Collective in Creating ‘Four Good Groups’ by a State-owned Enterprise” by the Organization Department of the Central Committee and by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Air China successfully completed service guarantees for the Olympics and Paralympics, setting many records in the history of civil aviation in China. At the Summing-up & Commendation Meeting of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games held by the Party Central Committee and State Council in the Great Hall of the People on September 29, 2008, Air China was awarded the honorary title of “Advanced Collective of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.” In carrying out various emergency rescue transportation missions at home and abroad, such as in the fight against the SARS epidemic in 2003, the winter storms in China in early 2008, the Wenchuan and Yushu earthquake relief efforts in 2008 and 2009, the Haiti rescue efforts in 2010, the Japanese tsunami disaster relief efforts and evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya in 2011, the 2015 Nepal earthquake relief efforts, and the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, Air China acts quickly to organize transportation without thought of profit or loss in order to carry out its responsibilities as a central enterprise, thus demonstrating the qualities of a central enterprise.