Air China to acquire new Dreamliners, reveal new routes

Air China is all set to take the delivery of its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts during coming months. With the new deliveries to happen soon, the airline has started revealing the routes where the new aircrafts would be deployed.

Media reports said that the first Boeing 787-9 aircraft is scheduled to be delivered on May 5, 2016. The airline will initially be operating domestic flights to Guangzhou and Shanghai from Beijing. The flights to both destinations would start operating from June 1. The flights to Shanghai will be operated four times daily, while the flights to Guangzhou will operate thrice daily. The airline will however deploy its new Dreamliner on its long-haul Beijing-Auckland route starting from July 1 this year.

After its initial delivery in May, Air China is also expecting to receive six more Boeing 787-9 aircrafts by the month of October this year. The airline will deploy these aircrafts on domestic flights to Sanya, as well as on long-haul international routes to Rome and Frankfurt. The airline is also planning to deploy the new Dreamliners on various other international routes in future, which includes New York, San Francisco, Havana, Montreal, Sao Paulo and Madrid.

According to the reports, the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircrafts would be configured in three classes with a total capacity of 293 seats. The airline will be offering 30 seats in Business Class, 34 seats in Premium Economy and 229 seats in Economy Class.

Currently, the smaller Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircrafts are being operated by three other Chinese carriers, including Xiamen Airlines, Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines. The reports said that Hainan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines are expected to acquire their first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners later this year.

Meanwhile, Air China has said that it has strengthened and extended its partnership with United Airlines by entering into a multi-year joint strategic initiative. Both the Star Alliance partners want to offer seamless travel opportunities and reciprocal frequent flyer benefits under this solid partnership.