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China's Sichuan Airlines inducts first A330-300(P2F)

Sichuan Airlines (3U, Chengdu Shuangliu) has taken delivery of an A330-300(P2F) from lessor CDB Aviation after its conversion at the Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) facility at Shanghai Pudong. The lessor says it is the first conversion of the type to take place in China.

According to the carrier, B-32D2 (msn 937) was ferried to Chengdu's Shuangliu Airport in the first half of April after its conversion was completed. It was formally handed over Sichuan Airlines on May 15.

"This re-delivery marks a significant milestone for Sichuan Airlines and China as we see the outcome of intense work and collaboration resulting in the arrival of the country’s very first A330-300(P2F),” said Jie Chen, CEO of CDB Aviation. The lessor is a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of the China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd.

Formerly 9H-SMC with SmartLynx Airlines Malta (LYX, Malta International), the 15-year-old widebody brings to four the number of dedicated freighters in Sichuan Airlines' fleet of 192 aircraft. The airline also operates three A330-200Fs and has...

US DOT eases cap on Chinese carriers

Seven of China's major airlines may, with immediate effect, operate a total of 12 weekly round trips to the United States, marking a gradual lifting of US-China restrictions imposed three years ago when Beijing banned all entry to US airlines over Covid-19.

Those affected include Air China, Capital Airlines (China), China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, according to an order issued by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) on May 3, 2023.

The order modifies a US ban on Chinese scheduled passenger services between the United States and China issued in response to China closing all access on March 26, 2020. The US regulator has since adjusted the cap to allow Chinese carriers eight weekly round-trip passenger flights to/from the United States. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) subsequently approved two weekly Dallas/Fort Worth-Shanghai Pudong flights for American Airlines for services beginning in November 2020, bringing the aggregate total of US combination services to ten.

The latest...