Juneyao Airlines outlines B787-9 plans; first due in 3Q18

Juneyao Airlines (HO, Shanghai Hongqiao) has said it expects to take delivery of the first three of its five B787-9s in 2018 and will deploy the widebody aircraft on new routes to Europe, Australia, and the United States, reports China Civil Aviation Network.
The order for the five aircraft – Juneyao's first widebodies – was finalised in February, with options for an additional five of the same type. Last week, while celebrating its addition to the Star Alliance family as a Connecting Partner, Juneyao's Chairman Wang Junjin said that the first B787-9s were expected in September 2018 with a total of three delivered that year. A further two are due in 2019 as per the Boeing agreement announced earlier this year.
Wang added that Nanjing would continue to act as a supporting base to its main Shanghai hub.
The Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare) aircraft will join Juneyao's current all-Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) fleet of forty-one A320-200s and twenty-one A321-200s. The carrier began operations in 2006 and currently serves domestic Chinese destinations and short-haul international flights to neighbouring countries such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Russia. Its 9 Air (AQ, Guangzhou) low-cost unit is also in the process of expanding its own operational niche having applied to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for authority to start international flight operations. According to FlightGlobal, Chairman Wang has alluded to initial destinations including Singapore, Denpasar, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

ch aviation