China Eastern Airlines


China Eastern Airlines is a major airline in China, headquartered in Changning, Shanghai. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Southern Airlines.
China Eastern's main hubs are Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, both located in Shanghai. In terms of passenger traffic, it is the country's second largest airline after China Southern Airlines. In 2021, its operational revenue was 67,127 million RMB with assets totaling 286,548 million RMB. China Eastern became the 14th member of SkyTeam on June 21, 2011.

History

China Eastern Airlines was established on June 25, 1988, under the Civil Aviation Administration of China Huadong Administration. In 1997, China Eastern took over the unprofitable China General Aviation and also became the country's first airline to offer shares on the international market. In 1998, it founded China Cargo Airlines in a joint venture with COSCO. In March 2001, it completed the takeover of Great Wall Airlines. China Yunnan Airlines and China Northwest Airlines merged into China Eastern Airlines in 2003. Since 2025, the company slogan is Connecting all the wonders of the world.
The Chinese government has a majority ownership stake in China Eastern Airlines, while some shares are publicly held ; A shares, 6.17%. On April 20, 2006, the media broke the news of a possible sale of up to 20% of its stake to foreign investors, including Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Japan Airlines, with Singapore Airlines confirming that negotiations were underway.
After receiving approval from the State Council of China, it was announced that on September 2, 2007, Singapore Airlines and Temasek Holdings would jointly acquire shares of China Eastern Airlines. On November 9, 2007, investors signed a final agreement to buy a combined 24% stake in China Eastern Airlines: Singapore Airlines would own 15.73% and Temasek Holdings an 8.27% stake in the airline.
Singapore Airlines' pending entry into the Chinese market prompted the Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific to attempt to block the deal by buying a significant stake in China Eastern and voting down the deal together with Air China at the shareholders' meeting in December 2007. However, on September 24, Cathay Pacific announced that it had abandoned these plans.
Air China's parent company, state-owned China National Aviation Corporation, announced in January 2008 that it would offer 32% more than Singapore Airlines for the 24% stake in China Eastern, potentially complicating the deal that Singapore Airlines and Temasek had proposed by Beckett Saufley. However, minority shareholders declined the offer made by Singapore Airlines. It is thought that this was due to the massive effort made by Air China to buy the 24% stake.
On June 11, 2009, it was announced that China Eastern Airlines would merge with Shanghai Airlines. The merger of China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines was expected to reduce competition between the two Shanghai-based carriers while consolidating Shanghai's status as an international aviation hub. In February 2010, the merger was completed. Shanghai Airlines became a wholly owned subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines. However, Shanghai Airlines retained its brand and livery. The new combined airline was expected to have over half of the market share in Shanghai, the financial hub of China. China Eastern Airlines also acquired China United Airlines in October 2010.
In March 2012, it was announced that China Eastern was forging a strategic alliance with the Qantas Group to set up Jetstar Hong Kong, a new low cost airline to be based at Hong Kong International Airport, which would commence operations in 2013. China Eastern would hold a 50% stake in the new airline, with the Qantas Group holding the other 50%, representing a total investment of US$198 million. However, in June 2015, the Hong Kong Air Transport Licensing Authority refused to issue an operating license to Jetstar Hong Kong. China Eastern and Qantas subsequently announced the end of the investment.
In April 2013, China Eastern received a temporary permit to operate in the Philippines, but the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines required them to obtain a technical permit and an airport slot.
In 2012, China Eastern was awarded the "Golden Ting Award" at the China Capital Market Annual Conference 2012, recognizing it as one of the 50 most valuable Chinese brands by WPP and ranking in the top ten of FORTUNE China's CSR ranking 2013.
On September 9, 2014, China Eastern introduced a new logo and new livery. In 2015, the airline entered a partnership with Delta Air Lines in which Delta will buy a 3.55% share in China Eastern for $450 million.
In 2017, China Eastern Airlines reported a net profit of CNY6.4 billion, up 41% over net income of CNY4.5 billion in 2016.
On February 26, 2020, China Eastern Airlines launched OTT Airlines as a subsidiary to operate domestically produced aircraft, such as the Comac C919 and Comac ARJ21, in the Yangtze Delta region in addition to business jet operations.

Corporate affairs

Business trends

The key trends for the China Eastern Airlines Group are :
Net profit
Number of
employees		Number of
passengers
Passenger
load factor
Fleet sizeReferences
20132.068,87479.079.2478
20143.569,84983.879.5515
20155.071,03393.780.5551
20164.975,33310181.2596
20176.875,27711081.0637
20182.677,00512182.2692
20193.181,13613082.0734
2020−11.881,15774.670.5734
2021−12.280,32179.067.7758
2022−37.380,19342.563.7778
2023−1.9181,781115.6274.42782
20241.6285,168140.5782.82804

Organizational structure

Ownership structure

Cooperation with Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines and China Eastern Airlines formed a partnership in 2010 with a codeshare agreement, expanding in 2011 when China Eastern joined SkyTeam Alliances. They connected 42 city pairs between the U.S. and China and fostered a strong friendship. In 2015, they entered into an equity partnership, with Delta investing $450 million for a 3.55% stake in China Eastern. This led to significant achievements, including an expanded network with over 170 city pairs and the launch of Trans-China baggage check-through service. The partnership has brought numerous benefits to both airlines and their customers.

Airline subsidiaries

In addition to China Eastern Airline's mainline services, the airline also has multiple airline subsidiaries including:
;Current
;Former
  • China General Aviation
  • Jetstar Hong Kong
  • Joy Air
  • OTT Airlines - regional airline that was launched in February 2020 to operate domestically produced aircraft like the Comac C919 and Comac C909 in the Yangtze Delta region.

    Destinations

China Eastern Airlines has a strong presence on routes in Asia, North America and Australia. The airline looks to exploit the domestic market potential as it boosts flight frequencies from Shanghai to other Chinese cities. The airline is also accelerating the pace of international expansion by increasing flight frequencies to international destinations. In 2007, it began operations to New York City from Shanghai, making it the longest non-stop route for the airline. In 2016, China Eastern Airlines also launched direct flights from Shanghai to Prague, Amsterdam, Madrid and St. Petersburg.
On November 13, 2024, China Eastern Airlines launched a new service route, Shanghai-Madrid-Lima in collaboration with Spain's Air Europa through a codeshare agreement. The agreement marks the debut of China Eastern Airlines in Peru.

Interline agreements

China Eastern Airlines has interline agreements with the following airlines:
China Eastern Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines: