Air China Retires Its First 777-200 (Blue Phoenix) Aircraft

By Lena Ge, China Aviation Daily | 

Air China, the nation's flag carrier, retired its first Boeing 777-200 aircraft (Blue Phoenix), after a final commercial flight CA1314 from Shenzhen to Beijing on March 26.

The 777-200, Registration B-2059, painting a special blue Phoenix livery, landed smoothly at No. M07 gate at Beijing Capital International Airport at 7:14 p.m. on March 26, marking an end of its 18 year' service in Air China.

On October 28, 1998, the B-2059 aircraft officially joined the fleet of Air China, which was the first 777-200 of the airline. With 18 years' operation, the aircraft had flown 45,812 hours.

Air China's first 777-200 aircraft is now grounded for sale, together with other two ones - Registration B-2064 and B-2066.