Ruili Airlines Co., Ltd. is a Chinese Low Cost Carrier (LCC) based at

Kunming Changshui International Airport Kunming Changshui International Airport is the primary airport serving Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, China. The airport is located northeast of the city center in a graded mountainous area about above sea level. The airport open ...

. It provides both domestic and international services to destinations in China and in Southeast Asia (

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

Chiang Rai Chiang Rai ( th, เชียงราย, ; nod, , เจียงฮาย, ) is the northernmost major city in Thailand, with a population of about 200,000 people. It is located in Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai Province. Chiang Rai ...

and Sihanoukville), using Boeing 737 aircraft.

History

The airline was established in 2014 and is wholly owned by the Yunnan Jingcheng Group. It received its

Air operator's certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...

on 22 January 2014. Its first service, between

Kunming Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...

and

Mangshi Mangshi (; tdd, ᥝᥥᥒᥰ ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥑᥩᥢᥴ; Jingpho: Mangshi Myu), former name Luxi (), is a county-level city and the seat of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, western Yunnan province, China. Mangshi has an area of , wit ...

, was launched on 18 May 2014.

Destinations

As of March 2018, the airline serves 34 destinations in China and in Southeast Asia.

Fleet

Ruili Airlines Boeing 737-700 at Tianjin Zhangguizhuang

Current fleet

, the Ruili Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Fleet development

The airline received its two Boeing 737-700s from

Air Berlin Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was h ...

(formerly D-ABLE and D-ABLF) on January 6, 2014. However, the aircraft were returned to

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...

in May 2015. The first 737-800 was received on 30 March 2014 and the direct purchase Boeing 737-700 from Boeing was on 25 November 2014. It has orders and commitments for a further 13 Boeing 737 aircraft (7 Boeing 737-700 and 6 Boeing 737 MAX). The first Boeing 737-900ER was scheduled for delivered in December 2015 which is an ex Spicejet Aircraft. In mid-2015, the airline signed a commitment to purchase and lease 60

Boeing 737 MAX The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), a division of American company Boeing. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG) and competes with ...

aircraft, subject to final negotiations. In July 2016, Ruili Airlines finalized an order for 6 Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The deal is worth US$1.59 billion.

Incidents

* On July 8, 2020, a Ruili Airlines Boeing 737 on a domestic flight from X'ian to Kunming suffered a cracked cockpit windscreen. The pilots conducted an accelerated descent and the plane made an emergency landing at

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is located in Yubei District, Chongqing, China. The airport's IATA Airport code, CKG, is derived from the city's former romanized name, Chungking. Jiangbei airport is also a 128-hour transit visa-fre ...

in Chongqing. Nobody among the 178 passengers or flight crew aboard was reported injured.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruili Companies based in Kunming Low-cost carriers Airlines of China Airlines established in 2014 Chinese brands Chinese companies established in 2014