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Transport in China - aircraft (by Dick Gilbert)
Last updated 27 August 2024
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Another visit to some transport from around the world. This time it's a look at the People's Republic of China, and here is a brief review of the aircraft I saw in my travels.
I visited China in October 2013, stopping in Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing. Although my primary aim (apart from having a fascinating holiday in China!) was to photograph road transport, because of my interest in aircraft I couldn't resist taking pictures at the airports, where possible. I didn't want to cause trouble, and I didn't see anything unusual and exotic (as I had done in Peru), but you don't see a lot of these airlines back home in the U. K., so they attracted my attention.
Turning onto its stand at Xi'an is China Eastern Airbus A320-200 B-9970. Its first flight at Toulouse had only taken place one month before, and it was the first A320 I had seen with this style of winglet. The Chinese aviation scene today is not a world of rusting hulks, but the very latest technology.
So here is a selection of various aircraft that I was able to photograph. I am more than happy to receive corrections or more detail about them.
It's been raining, so it must be Shanghai. This is Shanghai Airlines Boeing 737-800 B-2167.
This is Xi'an airport, and Hainan Airlines Boeing 737-800 B-5712.
Also at Xi'an, this is China Eastern Airbus A-320 B-6802.
China Southern Boeing 737-800 B-5356 at Xi'an.
China Eastern Boeing 737-700 B-5032 at Xi'an.
Not a great picture, but an unexpected aircraft so I had to try it. This is Dornier 328-300 B-3987 of Hainan Airlines at Xi'an airport.
Gulfstream G450 B-8166 at Beijing. It apparently belongs to Deer Jet. A Capital Airlines Airbus is behind.
An unidentified China Southern Airbus A-330 at Beijing.
Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A-330-223 B-LNC at Beijing, seen from China Eastern Airbus A330 B-6129. Largest shareholder of Hong Kong Airlines is Hainan Airlines, whose logo is worn on the tails of this all-Airbus fleet.
Evergrande Airbus A-319 CJ (Corporate Jet) B-6435 at Beijing. This is the company transport for the huge Evergrande Group of companies, based in Guangzhou. The company ran into a huge debt late in 2021 and was in all the financial headlines.
Grand China Air has three Boeing 737-800s and this is B-2652 at Beijing. The airline is based in Hainan, and wears a similar livery to its parent company - Hainan Airlines. A major shareholder is financier George Soros.
Xiamen Airlines Boeing B737-800 B-5552 at Beijing.
Air China Airbus A321-213 B-6961 (only 10 months old) at Beijing.
And here's our transport home at the end of an amazing trip to China - an Emirates Airbus A380-861 A6-EEE at Beijing.
One slight criticism of Chinese aviation. The aircraft may be brand new, but the infrastructure is often not. This rusty old baggage trolley at Shanghai is symptomatic of an old culture which, for example, has no consciousness of foreign object damage, a large strap and buckle was lying on the ground right in front of our aircraft's engine intake, and I saw fifteen ground staff walk past it and nobody picked it up. I don't think you'd get that in the West. But it was a great trip nonetheless.
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