Air China Ltd.

Today’s Air China can trace its origins to 1988 when Air China International Corporation was established. In October 2002, based on an industry reform plan formulated by the central government, Air China International Corporation, China Aviation Corporation and China Southwest Airlines merged, and the surviving company was still called Air China International Corporation. In September 30, 2004, Air China International Corporation was rebranded as Air China Limited. In December 2004 Air China Limited became a publicly traded company on Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK: 0753) and London Stock Exchange (LSE: AIRC).

The corporate logo of Air China depicts phoenix, a legendary bird worshiped by the nation since ancient times as a symbol of luck and happiness. Chinese ancient literature contains constant references to the bird which “flies from the eastern Happy Land over mountains and seas and bestows luck and happiness upon all parts of the world.” With imagination stretched a bit, the way the logo is laid out recalls the English word “VIP”. The deep red color is used since it’s associated with anything happy and lucky in Chinese culture. The message conveyed by the whole design is that Air China commits itself to promoting the development of the country’s airline industry and offering pleasant travel experiences to passengers. For us, phoenix symbolizes a spirit. At the core of the “Phoenix Spirit” is the will to “serve the world, to lead and move forward to higher goals.” Our vision is to become “A leading carrier in the world”. Our mission stresses “operational safety, customer orientation, steady growth, people development and fulfillment of responsibilities”. These values remind us that we should “use a people-oriented approach to our business, take on social responsibilities, have the will to succeed and enjoy flying”. Our brand positioning is to be “a professional, trusted, internationally respected Chinese brand closely associated with China”. The design also features the calligraphic version of Air China’s Chinese name, a reproduction of the handwriting by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s drastic social and economic transformation who laid the foundation for the country’s economic power.

Air China is China’s only national flag carrier and a member carrier of the world’s largest airline network - Star Alliance. It was also the airline partner of the Olympics Beijing 2008. It is a Chinese carrier with the highest brand value in China’s airline industry – according to the evaluation done by the World Brand Lab in June 2018, our brand value reached RMB 145.295 billion. We are in a leading position in China in terms of passenger transportation, cargo transportation and related services.

Air China is the only designated carrier that also offers special flights for Chinese leaders on their official visit to other countries and foreign leaders traveling within China, which is another piece of convincing evidence of our exclusive status as China’s only national flag carrier. Headquartered in Beijing, Air China has a number of offshoots in different regions of the country including southwest China, Zhejiang, Chongqing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hubei, Guizhou, Tibet, Wenzhou and also has some regional operational bases like South China Base and East China Base. The companies which we have a majority stake in include Air China Cargo, Air Macao, Shenzhen Airlines, Dalian Airlines, Beijing Airlines, Inner Mongolia Airlines, Air China Import & Export, Chengdu Falcon Aircraft Engineering Services and Air China Shantou Air Supplies. We also have some joint ventures created based on our partnerships with other companies, including Aircraft Maintenance & Engineering Corporation of Beijing (AMECO) and Sichuan International Aircraft Engines Repair. In addition, we also have interests in Cathay Pacific Airways and Shandong Airlines. We are the largest shareholder of Shandong Airlines. Beijing Air Catering Co., Ltd, of which Air China was once the controlling shareholder and which now is under the control of China National Aviation Corporation Limited, was established in 1980 and is the first Sino-foreign joint venture created after the “Law of the People's Republic of China on Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures” was released.

As of June 30, 2017, Air China boasts a fleet of 628 mainly Boeing and Airbus passenger aircraft and freighters, aged 6.53 years on average, including those operated by carriers in which we have a majority stake. We operate 408 routes, including 106 international routes, 15 regional routes and 287 domestic routes, serving 184 cities in 39 countries and regions, including 66 international cities, 3 regional cities and 115 domestic cities. Through cooperation with the Star Alliance network, we have expanded our presence to 1,307 destinations in 191 countries.

Our customer service philosophy revolves around four elements: credibility, convenience, comfort, and choice. Our PhoenixMiles program is the first frequent flyer program ever created in China’s airline industry. Other Air China System carriers - carriers which Air China has a majority stake in or holds the shares of – also use PhoenixMiles as their own frequent flyer program. According to the statistics last updated in December2017, the total membership of PhoenixMiles program has reached 46.28million. We are the first domestic carrier which has introduced “full-flat seats onboard” and “exclusive services in every step of the travel” for First Class/Business Class passengers on medium-haul and long-haul routes, offering passengers easier and more pleasant travel experiences. With customer orientation and innovation in mind, we have introduced a wide range of new services including the “Your Flight Assistant” and “Air China APP”. With our impressive capability to offer easy connectivity between international and domestic flights, extensive network of sales and a well-established customer base, we have become the select supplier for many Chinese government organizations and businesses.

We have an impressive team of well-trained pilots and service-savvy flight attendants. Our pilot team was once honored with the “International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Medal” and as the “National Production Role Model” and the “Flight Safety Role Model”. We have set a remarkable record of safe flight operations – since 1965, we have established a 52year record of safe flight operations on the Chengdu-Lhasa route considered by the world’s civil aviation industry as the forbidden zone for flights. In 2008, we successfully completed our first night flight on the route. Our team of flight attendants is truly an international one – we also have flight attendants of Japanese, South Korean and German nationality. With their professionalism and dedication, they are passengers’ best friends in the air and have been highly recognized for their attentive and meticulous services.

Our aircraft are maintained, repaired and overhauled by a highly professional team of technicians and engineers. In May 2015, Air China Technics and Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co., Ltd. merged to become a new company known as New Ameco. It is headquartered in Beijing and has 9 branches based in Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Hohhot, Shanghai, Guiyang, Wuhan and Guangzhou. It runs more than 160 domestic and international service locations, offering maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) for customers around the world. Our MRO system possesses technical licenses issued by relevant organizations in nearly 30 countries and regions, including Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). We are a carrier that has been authorized by Civil Aviation Administration of China to design the modification of civil aircraft (DMDOR). We have 10 large hangars and possess state-of-the-art MRO facilities and equipment and impressive MRO capabilities, and have won the trust of over 80 airlines from around the world. Since the late 1980s, we have made a total of nearly 20 technical breakthroughs in China and have been honored with over 50 technical progress awards by the government units at the national and provincial levels.

We are a flight operations control expert. Our flights around the world are under the watchful eyes of our highly professional flight controllers at any minute. Our computerized flight plan system retrieves information from the aircraft performance database, global navigation database, global airport database and high altitude weather database, selects the best flight routes, develop flight plans, evaluate aircraft performance and confirm flight qualifications, ensuring strict compliance with the flight safety regulations before any aircraft is given the green light to take off. We have developed our own proprietary Operations & Management System, which is integrated with the Satellite Communications System, Air-Ground Data Communication System and Shortwave Radio System. It has made us the first domestic carrier with super remote monitoring and control capabilities.

We are a select service supplier for other domestic and foreign carriers at Beijing Capital International Airport. We serve departing and arriving passengers, transit passengers, passengers with special service request, VIPs, and First Class/Business Class passengers. We are the first domestic carrier to introduce the self-service check-in devices and self-service baggage check-in devices at airports. We provide aircraft load balancing service, loading and unloading service on the tarmac, cabin cleaning service and special equipment maintenance and repair. In particular, we offer load balancing services at over 100 domestic airports, and we are the first domestic carrier with a central load balancing operations model.

People are our key assets and one of the cornerstones of our business. Our Flight Training Center boasts state-of-the-art facilities and an outstanding team of instructors with rich training expertise, and can accommodate a large number of trainees. Under the Center there’s also a flight training squad based at Tianjin Binhai International Airport, which devotes one Boeing 737-300 airliner to the training of all new pilot candidates. Our Flight Attendants Training Center is the first massive training base of the kind in China. It has been officially accredited by International Air Transport Association (IATA) and boasts a team of IATA CRM-certified instructors. Up to now, over 80,000 trainees from nearly 40 domestic and foreign airlines have received training here. In addition, the widespread recognition our Flight Attendants Training Center has earned has attracted trainees not only from the airline industry, but also from organizations of other industries. Now, the construction of Air China University is well underway, and the university is expected to become a huge modern people development base that can confer academic degrees.

Air China has also overhauled company management practices and is a pacesetter in China's airline industry, which has helped to grow brand value. In June 2018, Air China claimed 23rd place on World Brand Lab's "China's 500 Most Valuable Brands" list, making it the highest-ranking Chinese airline. In 2017, Air China featured on World Brand Lab's "World's 500 Most Influential Brands" list for the 11th consecutive year and was the only Chinese airline to be included. It also won the 2017 "Annual No.1 Chinese Brand Award” in the aviation category and the "Annual Chinese Cultural Brand Award” for the 11th straight year.We have been jointly recognized as one of “China's Top Ten International Brands” by the Financial Times of Great Britain and McKinsey Management Consulting Company of the United States, and honoured as one of the “Top 25 Exemplary Brands of China - Brand China Huapu Annual Award” by Brand China during their series of overall leader selection activities. On August 9, 2016, Air China was awarded the honorary title “Outstanding Enterprise for Brand Building 2013-2015” by the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC). In December of 2016, Air China was awarded "Chinese Brand Annual Award No. 1 (Aviation) 2016" as well as the "China Annual Cultural Brand Award" for the 10th consecutive year. In addition, we were named in various rankings lists as "Best Chinese Airline”, “Airline of the Year”, “Pathfinder Award”, “Best Corporate Image Award”, "National Enterprise Culture Outstanding Achievement Award" and “Top Ten Chinese Economic Leaders”, among others.

We are fully aware of our corporate social responsibilities and are always ready to take them on. By growing our business, we pay stable taxes to the government and create jobs. We serve the communities by actively getting involved in a wide array of public interest projects and disaster relief efforts. Our top management team has been honored by the competent high-level government units as the “Exemplary State-Run Enterprise Management Team Role Model”. We take of children by having established China Children Insurance Fund (CCIF) in cooperation with China Children and Teenagers’ Foundation. During the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, we did an excellent job offering air transportation services for the events, and pulled off many “first-time feats” in the history of China’s airline industry. In September 2008, we were recognized as the “Beijing Olympics & Paralympics Role Model” for our exemplary services during the events. We always responded quickly when big disasters stroke in China and other countries by providing charter flights to get the right people and supplies to the scene. By offering our help during the 2003 SARS epidemic, the 2008 snow disaster and the 2008/2009 Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes in China, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2011 tsunami in Japan and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, we have well fulfilled our corporate social responsibilities expected of a Chinese company controlled by the Chinese central government.

Source: Official website of Air China. http://www.airchina.com.cn/en/about_us/company.shtml