Suparna Airlines Explained

Airline:	Suparna Airlines
Fleet Size:	25
Destinations:	8
Iata:	Y8
Icao:	YZR
Callsign:	YANGTZE RIVER
Parent:	Hainan Airlines
Headquarters:	Shanghai, China
Hubs:	Shanghai Pudong International Airport

Suparna Airlines, known in Chinese as Jinpeng, is an airline based in China. Originally an all-cargo airline, it was formerly known as Yangtze River Express and later Yangtze River Airlines after launching passenger services. The company's headquarters are in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Tower in Pudong, Shanghai.^[1]

History

Established on 15 January 2003 as the second cargo airline in the country after China Cargo Airlines,^[2] Yangtze River Express was majority owned by the HNA Group (85%) with Hainan Airlines Co (5%) and Shanghai Airport Group (10%) holding the remaining shares. The airline took over the entire cargo operations of Hainan Airlines, China Xinhua Airlines, Chang An Airlines and Shanxi Airlines, all members of the Hainan Air Group.

In 2006, it divested 49% of its shareholdings to a consortium of companies including China Airlines, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, Wan Hai Lines and China Container Express Lines. China Airlines became the largest foreign shareholder, with a 25% stake.

The airline rebranded as Suparna Airlines on 7 July 2017; its new name comes from the mythical bird also known as a garuda.^[3] Suparna means “the one with the beautiful wings” in Sanskrit.

Destinations

CargoYangtze River Express applied for permission to serve Novosibirsk in Russia as well as and Los Angeles in the United States from 2009, pending CAAC approval. They also serve some domestic and Asian routes. From 2010, round trip flights to and from Shanghai, Tianjin Binhai, Prague, Luxembourg, Shanghai, and Rotterdam have been operated. As of 2014, there are also Frankfurt Hahn, Tianjin-Binhai, and Shanghai-Pudong connections. In December 2023 airline launched operations to Moscow Oblast, Russia.^[4]

PassengerOn 15 December 2015, Yangtze River Airlines launched domestic passenger flights under its revised name. Routes initially included Shanghai-Pudong Airport to Guyang, Sanya and Zhuhai using a single Boeing 737-800. Permission was also granted for flights to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.^[5]

Fleet

Current fleet

, Suparna Airlines operates the following aircraft:^{[6] [7]}

Suparna Airlines fleet

Aircraft	In fleet	Orders	Passengers				Notes
			C	Y+	Y	Total
Boeing 737-800	9	-	-	-	189	189
Comac C919	-	30	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Cargo fleet
Boeing 737-300F	9	-	Cargo
Boeing 737-400F	1	-	Cargo
	2	-	Cargo
	1	-	Cargo
Total	22	30

Former fleet

Suparna Airlines retired fleet

Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Boeing 787-8	1	2017	2018	Returned to Hainan Airlines.
Boeing 787-9	2	2019	2022	B-208C stored at PEK.

External links

• Official website
• Hainan Airlines

Notes and References

1. "Yangtze River Express Airlines Company Limited ." HNA Group. Retrieved on February 24, 2014. "Address: Pufa Tower, 588 Pudong South Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai" - Address in Chinese : "地址：上海市浦东新区浦东南路588号浦发大厦 邮编：200120"
2. Web site: Country's Second All-cargo Airline Takes off. en.people.cn.
3. News: 10 July 2017. 17 July 2017. China's Yangtze River Airlines rebrands as Suparna Airlines. ch-aviation.
4. News: Suparna Airlines launches scheduled Nanjing-Zhukovsky-Chengdu cargo service . 5 December 2023 . centreforaviation.com . News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry CAPA . 4 December 2023.
5. Web site: China's Yangtze River Express to start pax ops this month. ch-aviation.
6. Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One) . Airliner World . October 2019 . 11.
7. Web site: Suparna Airlines Fleet | Airfleets aviation. www.airfleets.net.