Tianjin Airlines

See Grand China Air for the holding company of Hainan Airlines.
Tianjin Airlines
天津航空
IATA ICAO Callsign
GS GCR CHINA DRAGON[1]
Founded 2004 (as Grand China Express Air)
Commenced operations 2007
Hubs
Secondary hubs
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer program Fortune Wings Club
Subsidiaries
Fleet size 91
Destinations 109
Parent company Grand China Air Company Ltd
Headquarters Tianjin, China
Website tianjin-air.com/

Tianjin Airlines (Chinese: 天津航空; pinyin: Tiānjīn Hángkōng —formerly Grand China Express Air) is a regional airline headquartered in Tianjin Binhai International Airport passenger terminal building, Dongli District, Tianjin, People's Republic of China,[2] operating domestic scheduled passenger and cargo flights out of Tianjin Binhai International Airport.[3]

History

The airline was established in 2004 in an effort to merge the major aviation assets of Hainan Airlines, China Xinhua Airlines, Chang An Airlines and Shanxi Airlines, and received its operating licence from the Civil Aviation Administration of China in 2007.[4] Scheduled flights were launched under the brand name Grand China Express Air, using 29-32 seat Fairchild Dornier 328JET aircraft. At that time, the company was China's largest regional airline, operating on 78 routes linking 54 cities. On 10 June 2009, the company name was changed to Tianjin Airlines.[5] As of August 2011, 63 destinations are served (excluding those operated on behalf of Hainan Airlines),[6] though by 2012, the airline intends to fly on more than 450 routes linking at least 90 cities, taking more than 90% of the domestic regional aviation market.[7]

In mid-2015, Tianjin Airlines signed a contract for 22 Embraer aircraft (20 Embraer 195s and 2 Embraer 190-E2s). It is part of a larger agreement made in 2014 for 40 aircraft, the remaining 18 to be approved by the Chinese authorities. The first Embraer 195 will be delivered later in 2015 and the first Embraer 190-E2 in 2018.[8]

The airline plans to launch international long-haul services and is to take delivery of its first Airbus A330 aircraft in 2016 to serve destinations in Europe, North America and southeast Asia.[9]

In 2016, Tianjin Airlines launched long-haul services to London-Gatwick[10] in the UK and Moscow-Sheremetyevo[11] in Russia. Services to Auckland in New Zealand begin from December 2016.[12]

Destinations

Tianjin Airlines is a major player in the regional airline markets of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, known for shuttling passengers between the regional capitals to various feeder airports.

Fleet

As of December 2016, the Tianjin Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[13]

Tianjin Airlines fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers[14] Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A320-200 23 - - 180 180 2 aircraft F8Y150 config, some Y174
Airbus A330-200 1 5[15] 18 242 260 Under lease agreement from AerCap.
Previously served with Hainan Airlines.[16]
Embraer ERJ-145 19 - - 50 50
Embraer ERJ-190 48 - 6 92 98
0 106 106
Embraer ERJ-190-E2 - 20[17] TBA
Total 91 25

Previously operated

Accidents and incidents

References

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