Air China Limited ("Air China") and

Air China Limited ("Air China") and its predecessor, the former Air China, were founded in 1988. According to the "Civil Aviation System Reform Program" which was approved and passed by the State Department in October 2002, the former Air China consolidated with China National Aviation Company and China Southwest Airlines and founded China Aviation Group Company. Based on the combined air transportation resources of the three entities, the new Air China Company was established. On September 30th, 2004, approved by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), Air China Limited was officially launched in Beijing, operating air transport services as its primary business and controlled by the China Aviation Group. On December 15th, 2004, Air China successfully listed in Hong Kong (SEHK: 0753) and London (LSE: AIRC).
The corporate logo of Air China depicts, with vivid lines, a phoenix that flits across the broad sky. 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, festive, auspicious and lucky in Chinese culture.But why phoenix? Phoenix is a legendary bird worshiped by the nation since ancient times as the “King of Birds” and as a symbol of good 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 happiness upon the world”; a bird that “Leads the pack” and “Never rests on laurels”.Air China’s vision is to be “A leading airline in the world”. Its mission is “Putting safety at the forefront, Delivering 4C-based services, Achieving steady growth, Helping our employees pursue a successful career, Fulfilling our responsibilities”. Its values are “People orientation, Assumption of responsibility, Resolve to get ahead, Loving to fly”. Its brand positioning is “A professional, trusted airline with world-class standards and a unique Chinese flair.”
Air China is China’s exclusive national flag carrier for civil aviation, a member of the Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance, and it was the official airline partner of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It ranks first among domestic airline brands (evaluated by the World Brand Laboratory as having a brand value of RMB 918.99 billion in 2014) and it leads its domestic competitors in passenger and air freight transport and related services.
Air China takes the responsibility of providing special flight services for Chinese national leaders visiting abroad, and foreign leaders and government officials visiting China, thus demonstrating the Airline’s exclusive status as the national flag carrier. Headquartered in Beijing, Air China has several branch offices such as Southwest, Zhejiang, Chongqing, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hubei, Guizhou and Tibet, besides its base in Southern China and the Engineering & Technology branch. The main subsidiaries of Air China are Air China Cargo, Co., Ltd, Air Macau Co., Ltd, Shenzhen Airlines, Dalian Airlines and Beijing Airlines. Its major joint venture is Aircraft Maintenance & Engineering Corporation (Ameco). In addition, it also holds shares of Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and Shandong Airlines. It is the largest stockholder of Shandong Aviation Group Co. Ltd. Beijing Air Catering Co., Ltd., once controlled by Air China, now operates as a subsidiary of China National Aviation Co., Ltd., and was established on May 1, 1980 in Beijing as the first joint venture launched after the implementation of The Law of the PRC on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures.
As of December 31, 2014, Air China (including its holding companies) owns 540 aircraft, featuring Boeing and Airbus, with an average age of 6.08 years. It operates 322 passenger routes, including 82 international routes, 15 regional routes and 225 domestic routes, covering 32 countries and regions, and 159 cities (53 international cities, 3 regions, and 103 domestic cities). In cooperation with Star Alliance member airlines, its service network is further extended to 1,321 destinations in 193 countries.
Air China is committed to providing passengers with the "Four Cs" service of Credibility, Convenience, Comfort and Choice. Air China’s frequent flyer program, PhoenixMiles, has the longest history of any frequent flyer program in China. Through the integration of its various memberships under Air China holding companies and joint-stock companies, all are unified as “PhoenixMiles”. By the end of 2014, the PhoenixMiles program had more than 32.96 million members. Air China is the first domestic civil airline to launch "Forbidden Pavilion" First Class and "Capital Pavilion" Business Class, the two-class elite services on medium-to-long distance flights featuring "lie-flat seats" and a "distinguished service throughout the journey" experience, which provides passengers with distinguished, comfortable and convenient travel space and considerate service. Air China adheres to customer-oriented service innovation, and has rolled out a series of new products including the “Global Flight Manager Program" and " Air China Unlimited". Air China enjoys a strong domestic and international connection capacity and sales network, owns an extensive high-quality client group and has become the first choice for many clients from Chinese governmental organizations and companies. On June 28, 2011, Air China was awarded the 4-star rating by SKYTRAX - the international authority for accrediting airline services. On June 12, 2012, Air China was granted the Fast Travel Gold Award at the 68th IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit.
Air China has a team of pilots and flight attendants with excellent technical training, a precise work style and good service skills. Air China’s award-winning pilot team has received many prizes such as the "ICAO Medal of Honor", "National Safe Production Advanced Unit", and the "Pilot Example of Safe Flight". The team has created a world-class flight safety record: completing a successful polar flight, creating a miraculous 45-year safe flight record (starting from 1965) by mastering the tough Chengdu - Lhasa route, once regarded as a "restricted air zone" by the international civil aviation industry (a route that is recognized worldwide for its difficult flight conditions), and by performing successful night flights to Lhasa in 2008. Its cabin crew team demonstrates its internationalization with the addition of Japanese, Korean and German flight attendants who are professional and dedicated. They are the best friends to passengers in the blue sky. They consistently put forward the "Four Cs" service of Credibility, Convenience, Comfort and Choice. The quality of their service has been acclaimed by passengers.
Air China aircraft enjoy specialized and standardized technical support. Air China has set up an Engineering & Technology branch headquartered in Beijing, consisting of nine maintenance bases (in Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Hohhot, Shanghai, Guiyang, Wuhan, and Guangzhou), four affiliated enterprises, 100 domestic maintenance sites and 54 international maintenance sites, forming a maintenance network across China and overseas. Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corporation (Ameco Beijing), China's first and largest aircraft maintenance joint venture aviation company, was established on May 2, 1989, animating the maintenance effort. Air China’s aircraft department has received maintenance licenses issued by CAAC, FAA, EASA and other agencies in 18 countries, covering 10 major hangars, advanced equipment and facilities. With their excellent maintenance strength, they have won Air China the approval and trust from more than 80 airlines around the world. Since the end of the 1980s, Air China’s aircraft department has achieved nearly 20 breakthroughs in domestic maintenance and more than 50 scientific and technological progress awards issued by national and provincial ministries.
Air China is promoting an integrated operation with robust control capacity. Air China flights around the world are under the control of the organizing and coordinating center. The computer flight planning system collects information from aircraft performance databases, the global navigation database, global airport databases, and high altitude weather databases, to optimize flight routes, develop flight plans, check aircraft performance, verify flight qualifications, and perform strict fight control checks before taking off. Air China has developed its own operation and management system, integrated with the satellite telephone system, air-ground data communication system and short-wave radio system, and has become the first domestic airline with remote monitoring capability.
Air China operates at the Beijing Capital International Airport, offering a variety of ground services including passengers' entry, departure and transit services, special passenger services, VIP services, two-class elite services ("Forbidden Pavilion" First Class and "Capital Pavilion" Business Class), passenger luggage services, aircraft load balancing service, flight departure system service, tarmac loading and unloading services, cabin cleaning services and special equipment maintenance. Air China is also the first domestic airline to offer self-service check-in and self-service baggage check-in, and the first airline to independently allocate part of their terminal area for a ground transportation support department. In addition, Air China has instituted the “center loading distribution” system in 100 domestic terminals, making it the first domestic airline using the "center loading distribution" work mode.
Air China values personnel training. Its pilot training center has world-class training facilities, training level and scale, combined with an excellent instructor team, rich tea