China Southwest Airlines

China Southwest Airlines
中国西南航空公司

China Southwest Airlines Boeing 757-200 in 1995
IATA ICAO Call sign SZ CXN CHINA SOUTHWEST
Founded	15 October 1987 (1987-10-15)
Ceased operations	28 October 2002 (2002-10-28) (merged into Air China)
Hubs	Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport
Secondary hubs	Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport
Fleet size	40
Destinations	60+
Headquarters	Shuangliu, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Key people	Zhou Zhengquan (President) Song X Jie (Vice president)
Employees	8,603 (2000)

China Southwest Airlines
Simplified Chinese	中国西南航空公司
Traditional Chinese	中國西南航空公司
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó xīnán hángkōng gōngsī

China Southwest Airlines (中国西南航空公司) was a civil airline headquartered in Shuangliu, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, from 1987 to 2002. It was merged into Air China in October 2002.

History

China Southwest Airlines was established on 15 October 1987. The airline joined the International Air Transport Association in April 1996, and then the Multilateral & Bilateral Interline Traffic Agreements in March 1997. In 2000, the airline had carried 50.5 million passengers as well as 130 tonnes of cargo. On 28 October 2002, the airline merged into Air China.

Destinations

China Southwest Airlines' main hub was at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport and its secondary hub was in Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport. It was the only airline flying to Lhasa Gonggar Airport until 2002. Although most routes from its hubs Chengdu and Chongqing were domestic, it also flew to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Osaka and Seoul.

The following is a incomplete list of destinations served by China Southwest Airlines:

Fleet

China Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 in 1995

Final fleet

At the time of merger, China Southwest Airlines fleet consisted of:

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Notes
Airbus A340-300	3	—
Boeing 737-300	14	—
Boeing 737-600	4	—
Boeing 737-800	6	—
Boeing 757-200	13	—
Total	40	—

Fleet history

China Southwest Airlines Tupolev Tu-154M in 1994

China Southwest Airlines operated a fleet of Boeing 737-300, Boeing 737-600, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 757-200 and Airbus A340-300 aircraft. It had formerly operated other aircraft, including the Ilyushin Il-18D, the Tupolev Tu-154, and the Boeing 707. Throughout the airline's history, the airline had operated:

Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Airbus A340-300	5	1998	2002
Antonov An-24V	2	1988	Un­known
Boeing 707-320B	3	1987	1995
Boeing 707-320C	2	1987	1998
Boeing 737-200	5	1987	1991
Boeing 737-300	24	1987	2002
Boeing 737-500	1	1993	2002
Boeing 737-600	4	2001	2002
Boeing 737-800	6	1999	2002
Boeing 757-200	16	1987	2002
Harbin Y-12	2	Un­known	Un­known
Tupolev Tu-154M	5	1988	1999
Yunshuji Y-7-100	4	1987	Un­known

Incidents and accidents

• On January 18, 1988, China Southwest Airlines Flight 4146, an Ilyushin 18D crashed while on approach to Chongqing Baishiyi Airport. All 108 people on board were killed.
• On October 2, 1990, a hijacked Xiamen Airlines plane (operated as Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301) sideswiped a China Southwest Airlines Boeing 707 (operated as China Southwest Airlines Flight 4305) before crashing into a third airliner. Nobody on the 707 died.
• On February 24, 1999, Flight 4509, a Tupolev Tu-154 crashed into a field while on approach to Wenzhou Airport, killing all 61 passengers and crew members on board, and leading to the withdrawal of all of China Southwest's Tu-154 fleet.

See also

• Aviation industry in the People's Republic of China

External links

Media related to China Southwest Airlines at Wikimedia Commons

• China Southwest Airlines Archived 2002-11-05 at the Wayback Machine (Archive, 2002-2004)
• China Southwest Airlines (Archive, 2000)
• China Southwest Airlines (Archive) (in Chinese)
• China Southwest Airlines Former Fleets Detail