China Northern Airlines

China Northern Airlines (simplified Chinese: 中国北方航空; traditional Chinese: 中國北方航空; pinyin: Zhōngguó Běifāng Hángkōng) was an airline headquartered on the grounds of Shenyang Taoxian International Airport, Shenyang, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.^[1] Established on June 16, 1990, it was one of the six backbone airlines directly under the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Besides Shenyang, it also had four other hubs at Changchun Dafangshen Airport, Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport, Harbin Taiping International Airport and Sanya Phoenix International Airport.^[2]

It was one of six major airline corporations that were formed as a result of the breakup of CAAC. It initially operated a fleet of Airbus A300-600R, MD-80, MD-90-30 and, later, Airbus A321-200 aircraft. It operated predominantly domestic destinations and also to North Korea, South Korea and Japan.^[2]

China Northern Airlines was established on 16 June 1990. In 1994, China Northern Airlines decided to purchase 11 McDonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft, whilst passing down some of their older McDonnell Douglas MD-82 to smaller airlines like its subsidiary, Beihai Airlines.^[3] By 1997, China Northern had increased the number ordered to 13.^[4] In 1997, the airline relocated its training center from the United States to the new Kunming Training Centre.^[5] In 1998, China Northern was China's 5th largest airline in terms of passenger traffic, and had a load factor of 55.1%.^[6] In 1999, it was announced that Britten-Norman would resurrect the Britten-Norman Trislander after China Northern placed an order for 3 aircraft, scheduled to be delivered between September 2000 and January 2001. This was done to replace the airline's aging Harbin Y-5 biplanes for regional services.^[7] By the end of 1999, the airline had reached a total cargo rotation volume of 4882 million ton/km. Around this time, it was said that China Eastern Airlines was considering acquiring China Northern Airlines, along with China Northwest Airlines.^[8]

In 2000, it was announced that China Northern signed a deal with Airbus for ten Airbus A321 aircraft.^[9] In November 2000, China Northern and Angel Air formed a partnership which involved wet leasing 3 Airbus A300-600R from China Northern to Angel Air, and a possible joint marketing agreement. The wet lease was scheduled to last for 3-5 years.^[10] By the end of 2000, reports by China's official press outlined a draft plan for a wave of airline consolidations in China, which included the acquisition of China Northern Airlines by China Southern Airlines. This came after years of pressure by the CAAC to consolidate many of China's airlines into China's 3 largest airlines (Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines) to eradicate unnecessary competition.^[11] On 3 January 2002, Angel Air announced it would halt all services on 5 January, and that the partnership with China Northern would end.^[12]

In October 2002, China's state council approved the takeover of China Northern Airlines and China Xinjiang Airlines by China Southern Airlines. By January 2003, both airlines began operating China Southern's IATA code "CZ" for all domestic flights, with international flights to follow by 30 March 2003.^[13] At that time, both airlines had their frequent flyer programs merge into Sky Pearl Club.^[13] Whilst operating under the China Southern Airlines brand, it was reported that China Northern was to order 23 Airbus A320 family aircraft to replace its aging MD-80 and MD-90 aircraft. By the September 2004, the airline had already taken delivery of 4 Airbus A319 aircraft.^[14] China Northern later fully merged into China Southern Airlines by the end of 2004.^[15]

The following is a incomplete list of destinations served by China Northern Airlines:^[2][16]

Zhongyuan Airlines had established partnerships with the following airlines:^[2]

At the time of merger, China Northern Airlines fleet consisted of:^[19][20][21]

Throughout the airline's history, the airline had operated:^[19][20][21]

China Northern Airlines also operated a helicopter fleet.^[21]

China Northern Swan Airlines was founded in 1993 as Swan Airlines by the company Sunbase.^[24] The airline was based at Harbin Taiping International Airport, Harbin.^[25] In 1996, the airline was acquired by China Northern Airlines, and by 2001, flew to 45 medium to large-sized cities both domestically and internationally.^[26][2][25] It operated McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and McDonnell Douglas MD-90s leased from China Northern Airlines, it was acquired by China Southern Airlines in 2003 followed by Beiha Airlines, China Northern Airlines, and Zhongyuan Airlines.^[27][25]

Sky Pearl Club was China Northern Airlines' frequent flyer program from 2002 when it was acquired by China Southern Airlines.^[13]

• On November 13, 1993, China Northern Airlines Flight 6901 from Beijing to Urumqi, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 (Reg. B-2141) airliner, crashed on approach to Urumqi airport, killing 12 of 102 on board. Pilot error was blamed for the crash.
• On May 7, 2002, China Northern Airlines Flight 6136 from Beijing to Dalian, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 (Reg. B-2138) airliner, crashed into the Yellow Sea about 6 miles (9.7 km) off the Dalian coast, killing all 112 on board. It was later determined that a passenger who wanted to commit suicide started a fire on board the aircraft.^[28][29]

• China Northern Airlines (Archive)
• China Northern Airlines (Archive) (in Chinese)