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Air China’s Beautiful Sichuan Color-Painted Aircraft Successfully Completed Maiden Flight to Taipei on January 23, 2009Home > About Us > Air China News > Air China’s Beautiful Sichuan Color-Painted Aircraft Successfully Completed Maiden Flight to Taipei on January 23, 2009 A Chengdu – Taipei charter flight belonging to Air China’s Southwest Branch departed at 1:50pm on January 23, 2009 from Chengdu Shuangliu Airport. Christened Beautiful Sichuan, the Airbus A321, which had an ink painting of a loving panda mother and son, flew across the Taiwan Straits for the first time, exhibiting from the air Sichuan's timeless beauty to the Taiwanese. Shi Bo, GM of Air China’s Southwest Branch (ACSB), Chen Shutuo, General-Secretary of ACSB, and Liu Zheng, Deputy GM of ACSB, bid the passengers farewell on its maiden flight at the airport and presented exquisite models of the Beautiful Sichuan aircraft to First Class passengers.
Cold weather could not dampen the warm atmosphere as “Ink Painted Panda” witnessed a historic moment On January 23, 2009, despite the 5-degree drop in temperature at Chengdu, the harsh winter wind could not dampen the delightful and warm atmosphere. The Airbus A321, with an ink painting of a panda mother and son, waited patiently for passengers of its maiden flight at the ramp. At 1:20pm, the passengers arrived at the aircraft via the shuttle bus, many of whom included families with children who wanted to fly home for the Spring Festival. Mr. Liu, a Taiwanese businessman, happily expressed, “The direct flight from Chengdu to Taipei makes it more convenient for me to go home. I have been working in Chengdu for 12 years. Without a direct flight, I had to make a transfer in Hong Kong and would arrive home in Taiwan at midnight or sometimes at 2 in the morning. Now it will only take 3 hours to get home and my family has prepared dinner for me. It’s so convenient.” He also said he would invite his family members to Sichuan to view its beautiful scenery. Mr. Chang, President of Sichuan Taiwan Businessmen Association, also asked his companion to take a picture of him and the color-painted aircraft to record this historic moment. He said, “Direct flights facilitate Taiwanese businessmen. We are grateful for this and hope there will be more direct flights in the future.” Shi Bo, GM of ACSB, and Liu Zheng, Deputy GM of ACSB, presented color-painted aircraft models to First Class passengers and received media interviews at the venue. In addition, Li Yunchuan, the flight captain, and the whole crew met with the public.
Good Ticket Sales for Three Spring Festival Flights During the Spring Festival, Air China operated three charter flights to Taipei. The first charter flight, CA417, departed at 1:50pm on January 23, 2009 from Chengdu and arrived at Taipei Taoyuan Airport at 5:10pm. The return flight, CA418, departed from Taiwan at 6:20pm and arrived at Chengdu at 10:05pm. Of the 185 seats on the first charter flight to Taipei, Air China sold 120 seats to Taiwan compatriots and their families. On the return flight, 142 seats have been sold. The remaining two Chengdu – Taipei charter flights departed on January 30, 2009 and February 6, 2009, respectively. On January 20, 2009, the Cross-Straits Tourism Exchange Association announced that in addition to the previous 13 provinces and municipalities, 12 additional mainland provinces and autonomous regions will be approved for Taiwanese residents to travel. This measure will promote the Chengdu – Taipei airline market and Air China will monitor the Chengdu – Taipei flight market to cater to passenger demands.
“Ink Painted Panda” brought unlimited potential to beautiful Sichuan as it crossed the Taiwan Straits In order to revitalize tourism in Sichuan after the disastrous earthquake, the publicity department for the Sichuan Provincial Committee and the Air China Southwest Branch cooperated together for a special advertising campaign. Two Airbus A321s had the entire aircraft body painted and were christened Beautiful Sichuan to display Sichuan's enigmatic and timeless beauty, as well as to establish the brand image of Sichuan's tourism industry. One of the aircraft was delivered in November 2008 and the other, which was used for the maiden flight to Taipei, was delivered in December 2008. The Beautiful Sichuan aircraft was painted with traditional ink painting, depicting a panda mother and son playing in a bamboo forest. The painting symbolizes the mutual love and concern among Chinese nationals. The tall and slender bamboo symbolically represents the Sichuan’s booming economy and tourism industry. The entire aircraft body features light and breezy colors, has a simple and fresh layout, and embodies a uniquely classic beauty. The first aircraft with the color painting of cartoon pandas commenced its service in December 2008. The Beautiful Sichuan aircraft will only serve the Chengdu – Taipei flights. Introduced by Air China Southwest Branch in 2008, the two Airbus A321s are priced at US$ 68 million each and have a total of 185 seats, of which 12 are First Class seats and 173 are Economy Class seats.
Excellent crew delivers service with uniquely Sichuan features Air China’s Southwest Branch is well prepared for the first charter flight to Taipei. With many years of flight experience under their belts, Li Yunchuan, GM of Flight Department, and Yang Jie, Senior Manager of Safety Technology Office of Flight Department, led the crew for the first flight. The inflight music and entertainment programs have been specially designed to introduce passengers to the folk culture and customs in Sichuan, and a promotional video titled A City You Never Want to Leave will be broadcasted on the inflight TV. All air crew members for the direct flight graduated from Air China’s Blue Trip crew they were awarded the state-grade Youth Model Team. The crew has undertaken many domestic and international charter flights and has abundant inflight service experience. Air China also presented exquisitely embroidered Sichuan products with images of pandas and opera masks as gifts to passengers on the maiden flight. Delicious Sichuan delicacies were served including leaf wrapped rice cakes, Dan dan noodles, Juntun Guokwei, boiled fish with Sichuan pickles, and mushroom and asparagus rice sets. The delightful inflight Sichuan cuisine was a major highlight onboard the maiden flight. Air China’s Southwest Branch took into consideration every tiny detail during the preparation for the inflight cuisine. During the first flight, passengers had the opportunity to sample two different kinds of Guokwei, one was crispy brown Juntun Guokwei and the other was braised pork Guokwei, for which passengers had to use their hands to stuff the pork. Two kinds of unique tea sets were offered to First Class passengers, one was a purple-clay pot for Kung Fu tea and the other was a green flower porcelain tea cup for Sichuan-style Gaiwan tea. The catering company specially provided a separate flavoring bag for the Dan dan noodles so that passengers could add the flavoring according to the individual's preference. In view of the wintry cold weather, Air China had specially prepared Italian-style desserts that contained sufficient energy sources such as chocolate and nuts. Rib soup with Hami melon and sea snails were also offered on the maiden flight. Hami melon nourishes the lungs and sea snails are nutrient-rich foods. With a full-bodied and refreshing taste, the soup was well received among passengers from Hong Kong and Taiwan regions. “We will adopt the same criterion as those of dedicated flights so as to maintain the food quality,” said Zhang Fushun, General Manager of Southwest Air Catering. According to the requirements stipulated by Air China’s Southwest Branch for the Cabin Service Department, the maiden flight mainly offered Sichuan delicacies that adhered to the preference of Taiwanese passengers. With years of inflight catering experience, Southwest Air Catering has undertaken several catering tasks for charter flights to Hong Kong and Taiwan. This includes providing catering services for the exclusive Taiwan-based EVA Air during the transportation of the pandas in 2008. Hence they are well-accustomed to the taste preference of Taiwanese passengers. While making preparations for the direct flight across the Straits, Air China prepared a dozen color-painted aircrafts, including Airbus A330, Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A321, and since December 15, 2008 there have been 10 weekly flight departures from Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hangzhou and Chongqing to Taipei. Air China had also increased the availability of the tickets, and passengers can purchase them through Air China’s global sales service center, ticket offices and authorized agents. At the same time, Air China had designed a wide range of tourist activities and service products catering to Taiwanese businessmen and their families, Taiwanese tourist teams, and outbound mainland tourist teams. Moreover, Air China had assigned employees to Taiwan to establish a Preparatory Office to provide better services to passengers in Taiwan.
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