Annual Events

2017

February

February 15th: The route from Fuzhou to New York, the first direct intercontinental route from Fujian province to the USA, was launched.

February 15th: On the launch date of the route from Fuzhou to New York, Xiamen Airlines signed an agreement with the United Nations at its headquarters in New York and became the first airline company globally that cooperated with the organization in implementing sustainable development goals.

March

March 22nd: A cooperation agreement was signed with Wolfsburg Football Club in Germany. Xiamen Airlines became the first Chinese airline company to partner with a European football club.

April

April 28th: Guests from the Boeing Company arrived in Xiamen City and presented the "Boeing 737NG Fleet Global Reliability Award" to Xiamen Airlines.

June

June 14th: In Montreal, IATA presented the "IOSA Outstanding Achievements Award" to Xiamen Airlines, the first airline company globally to ever win the award.  

June 18th: Xiamen Airlines and the Yao Foundation signed an official memorandum on strategic cooperation in Beijing, declaring the formation of a strategic partnership to jointly create Egret Dream, a new public welfare brand.

June 27th: The route from Xiamen to Los Angeles was launched and serves as  faster access in the air to promote economic and trade cooperation as well as cultural exchanges between the two countries.

September

September 3rd: In his keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum, President Xi Jinping praised Xiamen Airlines as "a company that is performing very well" when making a brief introduction to the city of Xiamen.

December

December 11th: The route from Xiamen to Los Angeles via Qingdao, the company's ninth intercontinental route, was launched. It is also the first direct flight from the city of Qingdao to Los Angeles.

December 16th: The route from Xiamen to Melbourne via Hangzhou, the company's 10th intercontinental route, was launched. It is also the first direct route from Hangzhou to Melbourne.

2014

February

In February, Xiamen Airlines’ Beijing and Hunan Branches were approved, marking a significant step towards becoming a large, national airline.

March

On March 25, 2014, Xiamen Airlines signed a Cooperation (Framework) Agreement on Joint Deployment of Aviation Development Strategy for Qinghai Province with the Qinghai Provincial Government to further deploy its “Penetrate into central and western regions” strategy.

July

On July 16th and 17th, 2014, Che Shanglun, Chairman of the Board and General Manager of Xiamen Airlines, signed a Share Transfer Agreement with Hebei Aviation Investment Group Ltd. to continue to implement the restructuring of Hebei Airlines.

August

On August 13, 2014, Xiamen Airlines and the Jiangxi Provincial People’s Government jointly signed a Memorandum of Cooperation regarding the establishment of Jiangxi Airlines Co., Ltd. which will be a joint investment by Xiamen Airlines and Jiangxi Aviation Investment, Ltd. On August 31, 2014, Xiamen Airlines officially rolled out its first wide-body passenger aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, unveiling a new era characterized by concurrent operation of three aircraft types; B737, B757 and B787. On the same day, Xiamen Airlines released its sixth-generation cabin crew uniforms to herald its new journey to globalization.

September

At the end of September 2014, Che Shanglun, Chairman of the Board and General Manager of Xiamen Airlines, and other executives visited Australia to negotiate with airport authorities in Sydney and Melbourne in preparation for the launch of Xiamen Airlines’ Australian B787 routes.

November

In November 2014, Air China held a leading place in Airfinance’s top 50 airlines by financial ratings with a BBB+ rating, which is the same rating as that of U.S.-based Southwest Airlines and much higher than the ratings for other Chinese airlines.

December

On December 6, 2014, GE granted Xiamen Airlines an award for record-breaking on-board circulation before first repair of the CFM56-7B fleet in Greater China to recognize Xiamen Airlines’ outstanding performance in engine maintenance. On December 24, 2014, Xiamen Airlines achieved annual passenger traffic volume of 20 million passengers, doubling its traffic volume in only five years between 2009 and 2014.

2013

January

On January 3, Xiamen Airlines signed a strategic cooperation agreement with four SkyTeam members in the Greater China region including Southeast Airlines, Eastern Airlines and China Airlines with the aim of establishing the Greater China Connection brand. These SkyTeam members in the Greater China region will share resources to facilitate passengers’ travel across the Taiwan Straits.

On January 9, Xiamen Airlines announced its fare rates for SkyTeam alliance ticket packages through ATPCO. This demonstrates Xiamen Airlines’ commitment to fully tap into SkyTeam’s sales system.

February

On February 19, CAAC reported on-time arrival performance rates for 2012. With an on-time arrival rate of 78.57%, Xiamen Airlines held first place in the sector with a 3.74 percent higher on-time arrival rate than the average rate for all domestic airlines. So far, Xiamen Airlines had become the few domestic airlines that held first place in terms of on-time arrival performance for the second consecutive year.

March

On March 4, Xiamen Airlines received the “Outstanding Contribution Award” issued by Honeywell for the special contribution Xiamen Airlines’ Aircraft Maintenance Department has made to prevent in-flight engine shutdowns.

April

On July 22, B-5790, the ninth aircraft introduced by Xiamen Airlines in 2013, arrived in Xiamen, growing the fleet to 95 aircraft. B-5790 is the first aircraft acquired by Xiamen Airlines through a bonded financing and leasing structure.

August

On August 27, Che Shanglun, general manager of Xiamen Airlines, visited Narita International Airport Corporation for the purpose of launching the Tokyo route.

November

In November, Che Shanglun, general manager of Xiamen Airlines, attended the delivery ceremony for Xiamen Airlines’ 100th aircraft in Seattle and visited Los Angeles and Vancouver. He met with local airport authorities and discussed the possibility of cooperation, making preparations for launching non-stop North American routes for the B-787.

2012

April

On April 1, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) officially awarded Xiamen Airlines “the Two-Star Award for Flight/Air Safety"(As of February 2012, Xiamen Airlines has accumulated 2 million continuous safe flight hours), Xiamen Airlines’ safety record once again attracted peoples’ attention.

July

On July 25, Xiamen Airlines held a "New Logo Launch Ceremony" and its 28th anniversary celebration, officially releasing the new brand logo, the “Flying Egret”, and new aircraft livery themed “Bright Future”, opening a new chapter for Xiamen Airlines’ rapid development.

November

On November 21, Xiamen Airlines officially joined the SkyTeam and became its 19th member, marking the successful integration of Xiamen Airlines and the international aviation market.

2011

February 1

Xiamen Airlines won the 2011 Asian ANNIE Prize category “Airline with the most new routes”, announced by anna.aero (Airline Network News & Analysis), for the fastest growing Asian route network in 2010.

May 9

Xiamen Airlines signed a purchase agreement with Boeing for six Boeing 787 aircraft for further international expansion. These aircraft will be delivered in 2014-15.

July 18

Xiamen Airlines officially acquired the CCAR-121-R4 operations specifications. It is the first airline in China to acquire such specification, symbolizing that Xiamen Airlines’ operational safety management level has been further improved.

July 23

Xiamen Airlines received its first B737-700 High-Hot aircraft for very high elevation operations. It is also Xiamen Airlines’ first aircraft with Boeing Sky Interior. Xiamen Airlines is the launch customer for the B737-700 in the High-Hot configuration.

September 17

Xiamen Airlines was recognized as one of the "Top Ten Brands in China in terms of Customer Satisfaction”, becoming the first airline in China to receive such an award.

November 17

Xiamen Airlines signed an Adherence Agreement with the SkyTeam Alliance in Rome, Italy. It is expected to formally join the alliance by the end of 2012.

2010

January 6

Xiamen Airlines formally opened its Taiwan Branch for developing and expanding future business operations in Taiwan.

March 23

Xiamen Airlines was the first airline in China civil aviation industry to pass the Safety Management System (SMS) audit.

October 30

Received the 13th new 737-800 airplane of this year. As of this date, Xiamen Airlines’ fleet had a total of 68 airplanes.

December 20

Hebei Aviation Investment Group Co., Ltd. joined as a shareholder of Xiamen Airlines. Their cash investment of RMB 1.46 billion Yuan constitutes 15% of the total shares.

2009

January 22

Xiamen Airlines obtained the CCAR-147 Maintenance Training Organization Certificate, which signifies that Xiamen Airlines has been authorized by CAAC to operate an in-house aircraft maintenance training school.

April 17

Xiamen Airlines reorganized its top management team. Mr. Che Shanglun assumed the position of President for Xiamen Airlines.

June 30

Total assets of Xiamen Airlines exceeded RMB 10 billion Yuan.

July 19

Xiamen Airlines opened an overnight operations base in Changsha.

December 3

Xiamen Airlines’ annual passenger volume exceeded 10 million for the first time.

December 19

Received the 9th new 737-800 airplane of this year. As of this date, Xiamen Airlines’ fleet had a total of 57 airplanes.

2008

January 16

Xiamen Airlines nationwide customer service hotline 95557 is officially in operation.

February 2

Xiamen Airlines opened its Tianjin Branch and inaugurated the new Tianjin – Xiamen – Singapore international route.

December 16

Xiamen Airlines opened a business office in Taiwan and it is the first mainland carrier to have an office in Taiwan.