Air China

Air China (中国国际航空公司) Limited is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, Beijing. The airline joined Star Alliance in 2007, alongside Shanghai Airlines.

Air China was previously the official airline partner for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games and has been selected as an official partner for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Air China is China's largest airline by brand value and is a market leader in air passenger transportation, air cargo and other aviation services.

Air China is responsible for the task of providing special flight services for China’s leaders when they go on foreign trips. It is also responsible for chartering special flights within China for many foreign heads of state and government leaders, thereby demonstrating Air China’s exclusive status as the national flag carrier. Headquartered in Beijing, Air China has several branch offices in areas such as Southwest China, Zhejiang, Chongqing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hubei, Guizhou, Tibet, and Wenzhou. It also has bases in Southern China. Air China’s main subsidiaries include Shenzhen Airlines Co., Ltd.(As well as Kunming Airlines Co., Ltd.), Air Macau Co., Ltd., Beijing Airlines Co., Ltd., Dalian Airlines Co., Ltd., Air China Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd., Ameco Beijing, Air China Import and Export Co., Ltd., Chengdu Falcon Aircraft Engineering Service Co., Ltd., and Air China Shantou Industrial Development Company. Its joint ventures include GA Innovation China Co., Ltd. and Sichuan Services Aero-Engine Maintenance Co., Ltd. Air China also holds shares in Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, Shandong Airlines Co., Ltd., and Tibet Airlines Co., Ltd., and is the largest shareholder of Shandong Airlines Group Co., Ltd. Beijing Air Catering Co., Ltd., which was once controlled by Air China, now operates as a subsidiary of China Aviation Investment Co., Ltd. The company was established on May 1, 1980, in Beijing as the first joint venture launched after the enactment of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Chinese Foreign Equity Joint Ventures.

The corporate logo of Air China depicts the phoenix, a legendary bird worshipped by the nation since ancient times as a symbol of luck and happiness. Chinese ancient literature contains constant references to the bird which “flies from the eastern Happy Land over mountains and seas and bestows luck and happiness upon all parts of the world.” The deep red colour is used since it’s associated with anything happy and lucky in Chinese culture. The message conveyed by the whole design is that Air China commits itself to promoting the development of the country’s airline industry and offering pleasant travel experiences to passengers. For Air China, the phoenix symbolizes a spirit. At the core of the “Phoenix Spirit” is the will to “serve the world, to lead and move forward to higher goals.” The vision of Air China is to become “A leading carrier in the world”. The mission of Air China stresses “operational safety, customer orientation, steady growth, people development and fulfilment of responsibilities”.  The brand positioning is to be “a professional, trusted, internationally respected Chinese brand closely associated with China”. The design also features the calligraphic version of Air China’s Chinese name, a reproduction of the handwriting by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s drastic social and economic transformation who laid the foundation for the country’s economic power.

As of December 31, 2020, Air China (including its holding company) owns a total of 707 aircraft of various types, mainly by Boeing and Airbus, with an average lifespan of 7.74 years. The company’s passenger routes have expanded to 674, Through its collaboration with other Star Alliance member airlines, the company’s route network has further extended to 1300 destinations in 195 countries.

Air China is committed to providing passengers with the "Four Cs" service: Credibility, Convenience, Comfort, and Choice. Its "PhoenixMiles" frequent flyer program has the longest history of any frequent flyer program in China. The program integrates frequent flyer members from several of the brands in which Air China controls or holds shares. Air China was the first company in the Chinese civil aviation industry to launch two classes of service on medium-to-long-distance international flights. As of December 2020, there are 68.176 million PhoenixMiles members. These two classes focused on "lie-flat seats" and "exclusive whole-flight service," providing passengers with both an outstanding, comfortable and convenient travel space and comprehensive, full-flight service. Air China has innovated services with its customers in mind, releasing a series of products including an "in-flight butler" service and "Air China Wireless." Air China has a strong domestic and international route network and sales network, and an extensive high-quality customer base. It has become the preferred airline for many Chinese government agencies and corporate business customers.

Air China has a team of pilots and flight attendants with excellent business skills, precise work methods and good service delivery. Its award-winning flight team has received many honours, including the “ICAO Medal of Honor,” “National Safe Production Advanced Unit,” and “Safe Flight Model Organization.” The team has set world-class flight safety records: completing a successful polar flight, creating a miraculous 56-year safe flight record (beginning in 1965) on the Chengdu - Lhasa route, which was once regarded as a “restricted air zone” by the international civil aviation industry due to its universally acknowledged degree of flight difficulty, and performing successful night flights in 2008. The cabin crews include many nationalities, and professional and dedicated Japanese, South Korean, German, Russian, Thai, and Italian flight attendants have joined the teams. 

Air China aircraft are maintained by a high-calibre team of engineers by strict industry standards. In June 2015, Air China Technics and Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co. Ltd. merged to form the new Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co. Ltd., also known as New Ameco. Headquartered in Beijing, this joint venture comprises four business units (Beijing Base, North China Route Centre, Chengdu Branch and Southwest Route Centre), 17 operations and management support divisions, as well as route maintenance branches in Chongqing, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Hohhot, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guiyang, Guangzhou and Wenzhou. New Ameco has over 160 maintenance sites in China and overseas, enabling it to offer MRO services to customers across the globe. New Ameco has obtained aircraft maintenance licenses in almost 30 countries and regions, including the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It is also authorized by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to act as a Designated Modification Design Organisation Representative (DMDOR). With 11 large hangars and state-of-the-art MRO facilities, New Ameco's extensive MRO capabilities have won it the trust of over 100 airlines worldwide. Since the late 1980s, Air China's maintenance team has made important breakthroughs on nearly 20 Chinese maintenance projects and received national or CAAC awards for more than 100 R&D projects, contributing significantly to progress in China's aircraft maintenance sector.

Air China’s management standards have improved significantly. The company is a Chinese civil aviation leader and its brand value continues to increase. In 2020, Air China was named by the World Brand Lab as one of the "World's 500 Most Influential Brands" for the 14th consecutive year and was the only Chinese civil aviation company on the list. The company has also received the "No. 1 Chinese Brand Award" in the Aviation category and the "Annual Chinese Cultural Brand Award" for 14 years consecutively. In the same year, Air China was named number 21 on the World Brand Lab's list of China's Top 500 Most Valuable Brands, ranking first among Chinese airlines. 
The airline has also repeatedly featured in the BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands, Top 50 Global Chinese Brands, and Top 500 Asian Brands. It was honoured with the title of "Outstanding Enterprise for Brand Building 2013-2015" by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
Air China was also listed as one of the “Top 10 Global Brands of China” by the British Financial Times and US-based consulting firm McKinsey & Company. As part of the China Brand Festival China Brand Rating Program, the carrier won the title of "Top 25 Exemplary Brands of China—Brand China Huapu Annual Award.” The company has also won the title of “Best Chinese Airline,” the annual “Best Airline Award,” the Pathfinder Award, the “Best Corporate Image Prize,” and the “National Enterprise Culture Outstanding Achievement Award,” and was named among the “Top 10 Chinese Economic Leaders”, as part of different social rankings.

Air China consciously fulfils its social responsibilities and always views taking public responsibility as its responsibility. At the Summing-up & Commendation Meeting of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games held by the Party Central Committee and State Council in the Great Hall of the People on September 29, 2008, Air China was awarded the honorary title of “Advanced Collective of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.” In carrying out various emergency rescue transportation missions at home and abroad, such as in the fight against the SARS epidemic in 2003, the winter storms in China in early 2008, the Wenchuan and Yushu earthquake relief efforts in 2008 and 2009, the Haiti rescue efforts in 2010, the Japanese tsunami disaster relief efforts and evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya in 2011, the 2015 Nepal earthquake relief efforts, and the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, Air China acts quickly to organize transportation without thought of profit or loss to carry out its responsibilities as a central enterprise, thus demonstrating the qualities of a central enterprise. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, Air China has carried out a total of 216 rescue charter flights, transported 31,000 epidemic prevention workers and 1,403 tons of epidemic prevention materials, as well as having carried out more than 20 repatriation missions. On September 8, 2020, a national conference was held to recognize role models in China’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Air China Flight Corps, as well as Chief Attendant Liu Tingting, was given the honorary titles of National Distinguished Group and National Distinguished Individual for their response to COVID-19.

Skytrax certified Air China as a 3-Star Airline for the quality of its airport and onboard products and staff service. Product rating includes seats, amenities, food & beverages, IFE, cleanliness, etc, and service rating is for both cabin staff and ground staff.