Suparna Airlines, known in Chinese as Jinpeng (), 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 () in

Pudong Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic city ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

History

Established on 15 January 2003 as the second cargo airline in the country after

China Cargo Airlines China Cargo Airlines () sometimes as abbreviated 中货航 (in English as ''CCA'') is a cargo airline with its head office on Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It is China's first all-cargo airline operating ...

, Yangtze River Express was majority owned by the

HNA Group HNA Group Co., Ltd., is a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, China. Founded in 2000, it was involved in numerous industries including aviation, real estate, financial services, tourism, logistics, and more. It is a part owner ...

(85%) with

Hainan Airlines Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd. (HNA, ) is an airline headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, People's Republic of China. The airline is rated as a 5-star airline by Skytrax. It is the largest civilian-run and majority state-owned air transport company, ma ...

Co (5%) and Shanghai Airport Group (10%) holding the remaining shares. The airline took over the entire cargo operations of

China Xinhua Airlines China Xinhua Airlines () was an airline based in Chaoyang District, Beijing, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. It operated scheduled trunk services and charter flights. Its main bases were Beijing Capital International Airport and Tianjin Binhai ...

, Chang An Airlines and

Shanxi Airlines Shanxi Airlines was an airline based in Taiyuan in the People's Republic of China. It operated scheduled domestic passenger services. In Nov 29, 2007, it merged with China Xinhua Airlines and Chang An Airlines to form Grand China Air, a subsid ...

, all members of the Hainan Air Group. In 2006, it divested 49% of its shareholdings to a consortium of companies including

China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; ) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of its two major airlines along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly (inclu ...

Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation () is a Taiwanese container shipping company based in Keelung, Taiwan (ROC). History The company was founded in 1972 as a shipping line, but has historical links through its merger with the China Merchants S ...

Wan Hai Lines Wan Hai Lines, Ltd. () is a Taiwan, Taiwanese shipping company founded in 1965. Since then, it has become one of the largest players in the container shipping industry, with a fleet of 72 vessels and a capacity of roughly 180,000 Twenty-foot equival ...

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 Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...

Destinations

;Cargo Yangtze River Express applied for permission to serve

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

in Russia, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in USA from summer 2009, pending CAAC approval, they also serve some domestic and Asian routes. From 2010 a

Tianjin Binhai International Airport Tianjin Binhai International Airport , originally Tianjin Zhangguizhuang Airport is an airport located in Dongli District, Tianjin. It is one of the major air cargo centers in the People's Republic of China. It is the hub airport for Tianjin A ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

round trip route has been operated. As of 2014 there is also a Frankfurt Hahn,

Shanghai Pudong International Airport Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of two international airports serving Shanghai and a major aviation hub of East Asia. Pudong Airport serves both international flights and a smaller number of domestic fights, while the city's othe ...

connection. ;Passenger On 15 December 2015 Yangtze River Airlines launched domestic passenger flights under its revised name, from Shanghai-Pudong Airport to Guyang,

Sanya Sanya (; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants, li ...

and

Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pearl ...

using a single

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...

. Permission was also granted for flights to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Fleet

Current fleet

, Suparna Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Previously operated aircraft

References

External links

Official website

Hainan Airlines
{{Portalbar, Aviation Airlines of China Airlines established in 2003 Cargo airlines of China Chinese companies established in 2003 Companies based in Shanghai Chinese brands HNA Group