Airline History Blog - Yesterday's Airlines

Hainan Specials Pt2: Scenic 800s

12/12/2018

Hainan Airlines had been the first airline in China to operate the next generation series 737-800 and given that they began to colour their older series 300s with special schemes it is no surprise that they also chose the newer 800s to gain some colour.

Hainan Airlines: The Beginning of a Dynasty

1/12/2018

The HNA Group has grown to become a behemoth of an organisation owning stakes in such diverse organisations as The Hilton Hotel chain, Deutsche Bank, Swissport and airport caterer Gategroup as well as a collection of airlines both within and outside of China. The start of it all however was Hainan Airlines, which grew from nothing rather mysteriously during the 1990s. Innovation played a major role but other factors were also key.

Three Swallows Pt1: Get Up & Go Ozark

26/11/2018

Ozark was St Louis's hometown airline and as with many of the local service airlines was a true pioneer of service for the regional customer. A well run and well equipped airline that proudly wore its three swallows for forty years. Its story started in 1943 when four local businessmen (two bus line operators and two attorneys) from the Ozark region of mid-west America came together to try and acquire one of the new licenses being offered by the CAB for feeder airline services.

Interflug 154s: East Germany’s Mysterious Trijets

31/10/2018

The Tupolev TU-154 is the most successful jet airliner that the Soviet Union ever produced. Sturdy, reliable (at least from the TU-154B onwards) and at least vaguely efficient it went on to have a production run of over 1,000 units and serve extensively with almost every country that had any kind of allegiance to the USSR. About the only exception to this was East Germany where only two TU-154s were ever entered onto the register.

Pork for Planes: Sichuan's TU-154s

1/6/2018

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a proliferation of small Chinese airlines in addition to the major regional bueraus spawned from CAAC. Many of these smaller carriers were swallowed up in the great agglomeration of 2003 but some like Sichuan Airlines have gone from strength to strength. In Sichuan's case this is despite a formative period with obsolete equipment.

CAAC Tupolevs: 154s in China Pt2

9/5/2018

Although the PLAAF and its China United subsidiary would get the first 4 TU-154s in China the CAAC itself would acquire some of this first batch of TU-154s too. In fact it got the lion's share with thirteen aircraft joining in 1985/86. They didn't remain with the CAAC for very long however due to the changes afoot in the Chinese industry.

CUA Tupolevs: 154s in China Pt1

27/4/2018

Despite being fellow Communist states relations between the Soviet Union and China were often poor, especially during the 1970s. This and the limited needs of the CAAC meant that it wasn't until the mid-80s that TU-154s found their way to China, by which time they were obsolete. So why were the Chinese buying them at all?

1:400 Review of 2017: Phoenix

30/12/2017

Onto part 2 of my 2017 manufacturer by manufacturer year in review and it's the turn of the king of the Asian widebody - Phoenix. They continue to produce a large number of monthly releases but also continue to produce as much awful as awesome. Indeed they really show little awareness of the market and increasingly I am losing patience with their approach. So what have they been doing in 2017?

Air China A330 Specials Pt2: Pavilion Liners

7/9/2017

Air China followed up its programme of Olympic themed aircraft with a pair of quite wonderful special schemes to celebrate their First and Business class products. Air China rebranded and relaunched its high-end offerings at the end of 2006 with First Class becoming 'Forbidden Pavilion First Class' and Business Class becoming 'Capital Pavilion Business Class'.

Cramming Them In: HK Express' New Airbuses

10/5/2017

HK Express has been a major factor in the infiltration of low cost travel options into Cathay Pacific's Hong Kong fortress. Operating from Hong Kong however has its problems namely high costs and restricted access to slots. HK Express is trying to combat both these problems and one way it has done this is to up capacity of its new aircraft.

Spirit Not Profit: Air Namibia's Long Haul

26/1/2017

Operating a small national airline in Africa is hard work. There are issues around corruption, high operating costs, aircraft procurement, volatility of local currencies against the US dollar, infrastructure, misreporting of Africa as if it's a single entity in the Western press, small fleets with long haul routes and competition from foreign airlines. Profitability is hard to come by. Air Namibia has never made a profit but its keeps trying and keeps flying.

1/400 Review of 2016: Phoenix

5/1/2017

None of the manufacturers have really changed their direction in 2016 and that means Phoenix are still the go to maker if you're after an Asian widebody - at least most of the time anyway. Certainly Phoenix couldn't care a less about US collectors but pleasingly at least produce models for airlines from a wider region than Gemini. In 2015 they had some pretty major QC issues. Did they get it right in 2016? Let's see...

Suriname's Trusted Wings: SLM's 747-300

29/8/2016

Ask someone to name a South American nation and few would name Suriname, however the former Dutch colony has much to recommend itself. It also has a long aviation history with its national airline providing an all important connection to the Netherlands. This was interrupted during the 1990s but in 2004 Surinam Airways reinstated long-haul services in its own right with a colourful Boeing 747-300.

Regional Jets in China Pt1: 1999-2003

7/7/2016

It is perhaps a symptom of the room for growth in China that regional aircraft types have never been a major component of the Chinese airline industry. With so many new routes opening capable of supporting an A320 or 737 the slimmer regional routes have largely been neglected with few airlines operating RJs at all let alone basing their operations around them. In the first of a multi-part series we take a look at RJs in China.

First Third 2016: Phoenix Models Review

22/4/2016

Phoenix continue to produce relatively high volumes of models for their core Asian and European markets. My 2015 end of year review applauded their good moulds, LCC output and interesting range of colourful liveries, but was less complimentary about their 747s and QC in general. It is difficult to make inferences from the month to month production of the manufacturers, but has anything changed or is it same old, same old into 2016?