China Northwest Airlines Co., Ltd. (ä¸Âå½西åÂÂèª空堬å¸) was a Chinese airline headquartered in Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China. It started operations in 1989. In 2002, the airline, along with China Yunnan Airlines, merged into China Eastern Airlines.
In 1988, the State Council decided to split CAAC into six separate airlines, of which China Northwest was one of them. The airline was based in Xi'an. It operated mostly domestic routes but also a handful of international flights to Japan.
In 1996, the airline acquired 80% of Nanjing Airlines. In October 2000, China Northwest Airlines and Shandong Airlines initialed a letter of intent for a joint merger, however, this was not approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. By then the airline was making a loss, and was later acquired by China Eastern Airlines in 2002. After the acquisition the airline was renamed China Eastern Xi Bei.
The following is a incomplete list of destinations served by China Northwest Airlines:
At the time that China Northwest merged into China Eastern, the airline's fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
Throughout the airline's history, the airline had operated: