Boeing
Boeing said on Wednesday that in 2014 it set a new company record for annual deliveries of commercial airplanes to Chinese customers, with the number of deliveries reaching 155. It marked the second consecutive year the company has delivered more than 140 airplanes to the Chinese market.
The company also gained orders and commitments from at least 12 Chinese customers for more than 400 airplanes.
Of the 155 airplanes delivered to Chinese customers in 2014, the Next-Generation 737 led the way with 119 deliveries, followed by the 777 with 26 deliveries.
Five new start-up and low-cost carriers - Donghai Airlines, Ruili Airlines, Urumqi Air, Fuzhou Airlines and 9 Air - launched services with new Boeing 737s last year.
Boeing plans to deliver more than 120 737s to the Chinese market in 2015.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines said on Wednesday that it is partnering with Ant Financial Services Group and UATP so that Chinese consumers can purchase flight tickets via the airline's website, delta.com. The move makes Delta the first US carrier to add Ant Financial's Alipay payment platform to its website. UATP's alternative form of payment processing connects airlines with online payment brands such as Alipay.
China Southern Airlines
China Southern Airlines said on March 27 that it will operate a daily A380 service between Beijing and Amsterdam starting from June 20.
The superjumbo will be deployed on the long-haul service, replacing an A330-300 aircraft.
Flight CZ345 is scheduled to take off from Beijing at 12:50 am and arrive in Amsterdam at 5:40 am, with the return flight CZ346 departing Amsterdam at 2:50 pm and arriving in Beijing at 6:20 am the next day, according to the airline's website.
The Guangzhou-based carrier is the only Chinese airline to operate A380 aircraft, and it currently has five of them in its fleet.
KLM
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said on March 26 that it is intensifying its partnership with China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.
The airlines said from July 26, KLM's joint venture with China Southern Airlines will expand with the addition of another Skyteam member in China - Xiamen Airlines.
From this date, Xiamen Airlines will operate three round trips a week between Xiamen and Amsterdam, in addition to the thrice weekly service currently operated by KLM.
This brings the number of return flights KLM and Xiamen Airlines operate together on this route to six.
