Air China will resume international operations of its Boeing 747-8 in May 2023. The initial plan is to operate the model on three of the ten weekly flights between Beijing and Frankfurt starting May 1st. This is the same route the model operated before service was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As reported by our partner Aeroin from the Cirium platform, the flights departing from Beijing to Frankfurt will be identified as CA965 and CA931. The former will fly with the 747-8 aircraft and the latter with the 777-300ER. The flights from Frankfurt to Beijing will be identified as CA966 and CA932.
The Beijing-Frankfurt route is one of the most important long-haul routes operated by the airline, and the use of the 747-8 will help provide more seats as well as a better onboard experience in the most modern jumbo jet.
In total, Air China has six Boeing 747-8 passenger aircraft and one more in VIP configuration used for transporting government missions. It is one of the few companies in the world to have this version of the Jumbo.
Its first 747-8, with registration B-2485, was received in September 2014, followed in November by B-2486, and in December by B-2487 and B-2479 (in VIP configuration). Between April and May 2015, it received the registered B-2481, B-2482, and B-2480.
These aircraft have a configuration of 12 seats in First, 54 in Business, 66 in Premium Economy, and 233 in Economy.
Before the outbreak of the pandemic, Air China used its fleet of Boeing 747-8 aircraft to fly to San Francisco and New York-JFK, in addition to Frankfurt and domestic routes between Beijing and Shanghai, and between Guangzhou and Beijing.
Air China Fleet
Air China’s narrow-body fleet is composed of 33 Airbus A319, 90 A320 (41 CEO and 49 NEO), 91 A321 (61 CEO and 30 NEO), 18 Boeing 737-700, 91 B737-800, 16 B737 MAX 8, and 15 COMAC ARJ21.
As for the wide-body segment, it has 24 Airbus A330-200, 28 A330-300, 23 A350-900, 7 Boeing 747-8, 3 B747-400, 26 B777-300ER, and 14 B787-9.
The fleet has an average age of 8.9 years.
