The airline was established on 19 September 1986 as Sichuan Airlines Company, its first flight was on 14 July 1988 between Chengdu and Wanzhou.[citation needed]
The airline was later restructured as Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. on 29 August 2002, in which the Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. Group became the major shareholder (40%). The other shareholders are China Southern Airlines (39%), China Eastern Airlines (10%), Air China Group (10%) and Chengdu Gingko Restaurant Co. (1%).[3][4]
In 2018, the airline was the 42th largest airline group in the world ranked by traffic.[5]
Sichuan Airlines owns Chengdu Airlines as its subsidiary, which also has its hub at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. Chengdu Airlines was formerly named as United Eagle Airlines, and was renamed to Chengdu Airlines to help lift the image of Chengdu on behalf of the city's government, according to an anonymous official of Sichuan Airlines. In late 2009, Sichuan Airlines sold some of its share of Chengdu Airlines to aircraft manufacturer Comac and the Chengdu Communications Investment Group. Chengdu Airlines is the first operator of the Comac ARJ21.[7]
Branding
Sichuan Airlines' logo is a haiyan (海燕) that is soaring with high temperament, symbolizing the company's entrepreneurial spirit. The circle represents the earth and the four wave patterns represents a hundred rivers going into the sea and carrying back virtues, corresponding to the core values of Sichuan Airlines' "truthfulness, goodness, beauty, love", symbolizing that Sichuan Airlines takes off from the inland and connects the stability of land civilization and the outward development of marine civilization.[8]
In addition to the logo, Sichuan Airlines gives emphasis to the Chinese character "川" in which not only the character means river or a shortened name of Sichuan, but also that the character is defined as running through and gathering. It means that Sichuan Airlines is engaged in aviation flight and had built a world-class fleet that connects five continents, improving its network radiation capability and opening more international routes to build a bridge between Western China and the world and to integrate the world's corporate vision.[8]
The airline launched its first long-haul overseas route in June 2012 with flights from its Chengdu hub to Vancouver, Canada. Its second long-haul flight, from Chengdu to Melbourne, Australia, was launched in February 2013 with three weekly services. On 17 October 2016 the airline launched twice-a-week service from Chengdu via Hangzhou to Los Angeles (LAX).[9] In 2016, Sichuan Airlines started twice-a-week flights to its first European destination, Prague.[10] On 23 June 2018, Sichuan Airlines launched service from Chengdu to Zurich via Prague. It was the first fifth freedom flight for the airline. It was also the only airline operating this route with Airbus A330 wide body aircraft.[11]
The Golden Panda Club is a frequent-flyer program launched by Sichuan Airlines. It can accumulate every flight mileage and enjoy free tickets and other product rewards. When the mileage reaches a certain standard, it can be upgraded to a VIP member and enjoy free upgrades. Free first class lounge waiting, free baggage allowance and other value-added services.[22]