Aviation
All-Boeing operator Xiamen Airlines takes delivery of its first A321neo
Xiamen Airlines, which had previously relied on Boeing, received its first A321neo Airbus aircraft on Sunday in Fujian, in the province of Fujian in East China.
The company announced that it will begin using the aircraft for commercial flights in the spring of this year, covering routes to and from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in Sichuan Province, southwest China, Beijing Daxing International Airport, and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.
Frontier Airlines Unveils New Ultra Fuel Efficient Airbus A321neo(Opens in a new browser tab)
The A321neo aircraft operated by Xiamen Airlines is powered by CFM International LEAP-1A engines and has 208 seats, 200 of which are in economy class and eight in business class. For more personal storage, the overhead bins in the cabin are 60 percent larger.
Boeing has been a key supplier to Xiamen Airlines since the company’s founding in 1984. It now operates 210 Boeing aircraft, including models from the 737, 787, and 757 series. As a result, Xiamen Airlines is the Chinese airline with the largest Boeing fleet.
Xiamen Airlines may be experiencing capacity issues, according to market observers, as some of its Boeing aircraft are grounded and the arrival dates of additional aircraft are still unclear.
Korean Air becomes new operator of A321neo(Opens in a new browser tab)
In 22 September 2022, Xiamen Airlines has placed a firm order for 40 A320neo Family aircraft switching to Airbus for its fleet growth, making the airline the newest Airbus customer. The agreement was announced by the major shareholder China Southern Airlines to the Shanghai Stock exchange.
The Chinese aviation market has been slowly recovering in recent months, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China announced at the end of 2022 that it will remove COVID-19 travel restrictions starting on January 8 in an effort to boost international passenger traffic, which had been reduced for three years as a result of the pandemic. This announcement also gives manufacturers confidence.
