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Suparna Airlines

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Suparna Airlines
IATA ICAO Call sign
Y8 YZR YANGTZE RIVER
Founded15 January 2003; 21 years ago (2003-01-15)
HubsShanghai Pudong International Airport
Fleet size25
Destinations8
Parent companyHainan Airlines
HeadquartersShanghai, China
Websitewww.yzr.com.cn

Suparna Airlines, known in Chinese as Jinpeng (Chinese: 金鹏航空; pinyin: Jīnpéng Hángkōng), is an airline based in China. Originally an all-cargo airline, it was formerly known as Yangtze River Express and later Yangtze River Airlines after launching passenger services. The company's headquarters are in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Tower (Chinese: 浦发大厦; pinyin: Pǔ fā dà shà) in Pudong, Shanghai.[1]

History

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Former logo

Established on 15 January 2003 as the second cargo airline in the country after China Cargo Airlines,[2] Yangtze River Express was majority owned by the HNA Group (85%) with Hainan Airlines Co (5%) and Shanghai Airport Group (10%) holding the remaining shares. The airline took over the entire cargo operations of Hainan Airlines, China Xinhua Airlines, Chang An Airlines and Shanxi Airlines, all members of the Hainan Air Group.

In 2006, it divested 49% of its shareholdings to a consortium of companies including China Airlines, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, Wan Hai Lines and China Container Express Lines. China Airlines became the largest foreign shareholder, with a 25% stake.

The airline rebranded as Suparna Airlines on 7 July 2017; its new name comes from the mythical bird also known as a garuda.[3] Suparna means “the one with the beautiful wings” in Sanskrit.

Destinations

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Cargo

Yangtze River Express applied for permission to serve Novosibirsk in Russia as well as Dallas–Fort Worth and Los Angeles in the United States from 2009, pending CAAC approval. They also serve some domestic and Asian routes. From 2010, round trip flights to and from Shanghai, Tianjin Binhai, Prague, Luxembourg, Shanghai, and Rotterdam have been operated. As of 2014, there are also Frankfurt Hahn, Tianjin-Binhai, and Shanghai-Pudong connections. In December 2023 airline launched operations to Moscow Oblast, Russia.[4]

Passenger

On 15 December 2015, Yangtze River Airlines launched domestic passenger flights under its revised name. Routes initially included Shanghai-Pudong Airport to Guyang, Sanya and Zhuhai using a single Boeing 737-800. Permission was also granted for flights to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.[5]

Fleet

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Current fleet

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Suparna Airlines Boeing 747-400ERF
Yangtze River Express Boeing 747-400BDSF
Suparna 747 plane at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport

As of August 2024, Suparna Airlines operates the following aircraft:[6][7]

Suparna Airlines fleet
Aircraft In fleet Orders Passengers Notes
C Y+ Y Total
Boeing 737-800 9 189 189
Comac C919 30 TBA TBA TBA TBA
Cargo fleet
Boeing 737-300F 9 Cargo
Boeing 737-400F 1 Cargo
Boeing 747-400BDSF 2 Cargo
Boeing 747-400ERF 1 Cargo
Total 22

Former fleet

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Suparna Airlines retired fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Boeing 787-8 1 2017 2018 Returned to Hainan Airlines.
Boeing 787-9 2 2019 2022 B-208C stored at PEK.

References

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  1. ^ "Yangtze River Express Airlines Company Limited Archived 2016-05-02 at the Wayback Machine." HNA Group. Retrieved on February 24, 2014. "Address: Pufa Tower, 588 Pudong South Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai" - Address in Chinese Archived 2014-03-01 at the Wayback Machine: "地址:上海市浦东新区浦东南路588号浦发大厦 邮编:200120"
  2. ^ "Country's Second All-cargo Airline Takes off". en.people.cn.
  3. ^ "China's Yangtze River Airlines rebrands as Suparna Airlines". ch-aviation. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Suparna Airlines launches scheduled Nanjing-Zhukovsky-Chengdu cargo service". centreforaviation.com. News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  5. ^ "China's Yangtze River Express to start pax ops this month". ch-aviation.
  6. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 11.
  7. ^ "Suparna Airlines Fleet | Airfleets aviation". www.airfleets.net.
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