Suparna Airlines

Suparna Airlines, known in Chinese as Jinpeng (Chinese: 金鹏航空; pinyin: Jīnpeng Hangkōng), is an airline based in China. 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 (Chinese: 浦发大厦; pinyin: Pǔ fā dà shà) in Pudong, Shanghai.

History

Former logo

Established on 15 January 2003 as the second cargo airline in the country after China Cargo Airlines, 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. Suparna means “the one with the beautiful wings” in Sanskrit.

Destinations

Yangtze River Express applied for permission to serve Novosibirsk in Russia as well as Dallas–Fort Worth and Los Angeles in USA from summer 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.

On 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.

Fleet

Current fleet

Suparna Airlines Boeing 747-400ERF

Yangtze River Express Boeing 747-400BDSF

Suparna 747 plane at Anchorage AK airport

As of January 2020, Suparna Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Previously operated aircraft