Lucky Air () is a Chinese low-cost airline based in

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

, China. The airline started with flights connecting Kunming with Dali and

Xishuangbanna Xishuangbanna, sometimes shortened to Banna, is one of the eight autonomous prefectures of Yunnan Province. The autonomous prefecture for Dai people is in the extreme south of Yunnan province, China, bordering both Myanmar and Laos. Xishuangbanna ...

, and later expanded to other domestic and international destinations. Its main base is Kunming Changshui International Airport. The airline is one of the four founding members of the U-FLY Alliance.

History

The airline was established in July 2004 as a start-up airline known as Shilin Airlines.

Hainan Airlines Hainan Airlines is an airline headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, China. It is the largest civilian-run enterprise, civilian-run and majority State ownership, state-owned air transport company, making it the fourth-largest airline in terms of flee ...

had invested 2.93 million yuan in the company, while its affiliate Shanxi Airlines invested 47.07 million yuan. The airlines provided the new company with three Dornier aircraft, a

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

aircraft, and a Dash-8. The Yunnan Shilin Tourism Aviation Co. also invested a further 1 million yuan. On 23 December 2005, Shilin Airlines was renamed Lucky Air. It started operations with a flight between Kunming and Dali within Yunnan on 26 February 2006. The airline is owned by Hainan Airlines, Shanxi Airlines and Yunnan Shilin Tourism Aviation. It has 263 employees (at March 2007). The airline is one of the four founding members of the U-FLY Alliance, which is the world's first alliance of low-cost carriers. It formed in January 2016 by HK Express, Lucky Air, Urumqi Air, and West Air. Lucky intended to deploy 787-9s to Europe and North America by the end of 2016. On 10 January 2025, Lucky Air flight 8L843 left Dali Fengyi Airport for

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, marking the first international direct air route from the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

Destinations

Lucky Air has expanded its network rapidly. By now, it covers 51 domestic cities, 11 foreign cities and 2 regional cities.

Fleet

, Lucky Air operates the following aircraft:

References

External links

* {{IATA members, china Airlines of China Airlines established in 2004 Companies based in Kunming Transport in Yunnan Chinese brands HNA Group U-FLY Alliance Chinese companies established in 2004 Low-cost carriers of China