| Airline: | Chengdu Airlines 成都航空 |
| Fleet Size: | 76 |
| Destinations: | 113[1] |
| Iata: | EU |
| Icao: | UEA |
| Callsign: | HIBISCUS CITY |
| Parent: | Sichuan Airlines |
| Founded: | |
| Headquarters: | Shuangliu District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China |
| Hubs: | Chengdu-Shuangliu[2] Chengdu–Tianfu |
Chengdu Airlines is an airline headquartered in Shuangliu, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.[3] A subsidiary of Sichuan Airlines, it operates a network of scheduled domestic passenger flights out of its hub at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport and Chengdu Tianfu International Airport both located in Chengdu.
Originally named United Eagle Airlines Co., Ltd (; also known as UEAir), the company was founded in 2004 by a former executive of China Northwest Airlines, with the necessary funding being provided by the Vickers Financial Group.[4] It took delivery of its first airliner, an Airbus A320 that previously had belonged to Air Jamaica, on 8 July 2005[5] and on 27 July, revenue flights were commenced.[4] Another similar aircraft type, the slightly smaller Airbus A319, was put in service with United Eagle Airlines on 2 December of that year.[5]
In March 2009, Sichuan Airlines invested 200 million RMB (30 million USD) in United Eagle Airlines,[6] thus holding 76 percent of the shares.[4] In late 2009, these shares were sold to Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac and to Chengdu Communications Investment Group. Following this ownership change, United Eagle Airlines placed a firm order for 30 Comac ARJ21s, the first of which initially was planned to be delivered in late 2010.[7]
On 23 January 2010, the airline was renamed Chengdu Airlines.[4] [7]
, the Chengdu Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[10] Chengdu Airlines was the launch customer for the Comac ARJ21, entering the type into service in June 2016.
| Aircraft | In Fleet | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | Total | |||||
| Airbus A319-100 | 4 | - | 12 | 108 | 120 | ||
| Airbus A320-200 | 36 | - | - | 180 | 180 | ||
| Airbus A320neo | 11 | - | TBA | ||||
| Airbus A321neo | 5 | - | TBA | ||||
| Comac ARJ21-700 | 28 | 4 | - | 90 | 90 | Launch customer | |
| Total | 84 | 4 | |||||
On 5 April 2013, a flight going to Nanning from Chengdu started to land (using the autopilot) with the Runway Visual Range (RVR) and vertical visibility requirement significantly lower than allowed for a safe landing to occur. The airplane ending up having to completely stop while taxing because the plane's visual of the taxiway was lost. The crews were grounded and a different crew flew on the return flight.[11]
On 14 Sep 2019, a Chengdu Airlines Airbus A320 (registered B-9985) performing flight EU 6667 from Chengdu Shuangliu to Shanghai Pudong Airport could not retract the landing gear as the crew were climbing out of Chengdu.The aircraft entered a hold at 2700m, then climbed to 3000m to burn fuel and landed safely at Chengdu thereafter. A replacement airplane was deployed.[12]