China's Central Airlines opens Wenzhou base

Haikou Meilan operator loses first round of contract dispute

China's Air Central set to add first ARJ21 freighter

Air Central (China) (GI, Zhengzhou) has begun proving flights for its first of fifty ARJ21-700(F)s, B-3388 (msn 109), after conversion at the GAMECO facility at Guangzhou earlier this year, Chinese media have reported.

The aircraft was manufactured as an ARJ21-700 in 2018 and subsequently leased to Chengdu Airlines (EU, Chengdu Shuangliu) for which it operated until September 2021, when it was withdrawn from use and ferried to Nanchang International for storage, and later to Guangzhou. It is the first Chinese manufactured aircraft to enter the Air Central fleet which presently includes five B737-300(F)s, one B737-400(F), five B737-800(BCF)s, and one B747-400FSCD.

According to ch-aviation fleets advanced data, B-3388 is just the second COMAC conversion. B-3329 (msn 112), also ex-Chengdu Airlines passenger stock, recently underwent conversion and is due to be delivered to YTO Cargo Airlines (YG, Hangzhou) this month.

Air Central (China) was rebranded from Longhao Airlines in 2019 and China Central Longhao Airlines earlier this year. The...

China's Central Airlines plots US flights from 4Q23

Central Airlines (I9, Haikou) has filed an application with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin operating cargo and mail flights between China and the United States (US) in November 2023. The airline says it initially wants to fly a B777-F between Shenzhen and an unspecified airport in the New York area six times a week.

The service would be the privately owned airline's first scheduled services to North America. Central Airlines' single B777F primarily flies to Paris CDG and Riyadh, while its five B737-300(F)s and four B737-800(BCF)s service ports within China as well as around Asia. In its filing, Central Airlines says it intends to induct a second B777 in August this year.

Beyond New York, the Central Airlines application states that it wants permission to operate flights from "a point or points in the People's Republic of China to any point or points in the United States open to scheduled international service." It says the application is fully consistent with the air services agreement China and the...

China's Central Airlines eyes inc'l growth with first B777F