China Northern Airlines

China Northern Airlines
中国北方航空
*Zhōngguó Běifāng Hángkōng*
Founded	16 June 1990 January 18, 2023 (re-launch)
Ceased operations	12 November 2004; (merged into China Southern Airlines)
Hubs	Shenyang Taoxian International Airport
Secondary hubs	Changchun Dafangshen Airport; Harbin Taiping International Airport; Sanya Phoenix International Airport;
Fleet size	61 (1995)
Destinations	152
Headquarters	Shenyang, Liaoning, China

China Northern Airlines (simplified Chinese: 中国北方航空; traditional Chinese: 中國北方航空; pinyin: Zhōngguó Běifāng Hángkōng) was an airline headquartered on the grounds of Shenyang Taoxian International Airport, Shenyang, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.^[1] Established on June 16, 1990, it was one of the six backbone airlines directly under the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

A China Northern MD-82 taking off in Beijing Capital International Airport.

Besides Shenyang, it also had three hubs at Changchun Dafangshen Airport, Harbin Taiping International Airport and Sanya Phoenix International Airport.

It was one of six major airline corporations that were formed as a result of the breakup of CAAC Airlines. It initially operated a fleet of Airbus A300-600R, MD-80, MD-90-30 and, later, Airbus A321-200 aircraft. It operated predominantly domestic destinations and also to North Korea, South Korea and Japan.

History

China Northern Swan Airlines was founded in 1990, it operated McDonnell Douglas MD-80s leased from China Northern Airlines, it was acquired by China Southern Airlines in 2003 followed by Beiya Airlines, China Northern Airlines, and Zhongyuan Airlines.^[2]

China Northern Airlines was established in 1990 to act as a successor to Swan Airlines. By the end of 1999, the airline had reached a total cargo rotation volume of 4882 million ton/km. In 2001 the airlines had ordered ten Airbus A321 but only six were in the fleet. It later merged into China Southern Airlines in 2003.

Fleet

The fleet as of 1995.

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Notes
Airbus A300-600R	10	-	Acquired by China Southern Airlines
Airbus A321-200	6	4	All remaining orders transferred to China Southern Airlines
Antonov An-2	1	-
McDonnell Douglas MD-82	27	-	Two aircraft written off
McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30	13	-
Xian Y-7-100	4	-
Total	61	4

Frequent flyer program

Sky Pearl Club was China Northern Airlines' frequent flyer program until 2003 when it merged with China Southern Airlines.

Accidents

On November 13, 1993, China Northern Airlines Flight 6901 from Beijing to Urumqi, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 (Reg. B-2141) airliner, crashed on approach to Urumqi airport, killing 12 of 102 on board. Pilot error was blamed for the crash.
On April 17, 2002, China Northern Airlines Flight 6621 from Dalian to Shenyang, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 airliner, nine minutes after takeoff, a man attempted to hijack the domestic flight. In-flight security personnel and passengers managed to overpower the man immediately. At 17:58 local time, the flight landed safely at Shenyang.^[3]
On May 7, 2002, China Northern Airlines Flight 6136 from Beijing to Dalian, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 (Reg. B-2138) airliner, crashed into the Yellow Sea about 6 miles (9.7 km) off the Dalian coast, killing all 112 on board. It was later determined that a passenger who wanted to commit suicide started a fire on board the aircraft.^[4]^[5]