Okay Airways

Okay Airways
奥凯航空公司
Aòkǎi Hángkōng Gōngsī

IATA BK ICAO OKA Callsign OKAYJET
Founded	2004
Hubs	Tianjin Binhai International Airport
Fleet size	7
Destinations	15 incl. cargo
Parent company	Okay Airways Ltd.
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Key people	Liu Jieyin
Website	http://www.okair.net/

Okay Airways (Chinese: 奥凯航空公司; pinyin: Aòkǎi Hángkōng Gōngsī) is an airline headquartered in Fengtai District, Beijing, People's Republic of China.^[1][2] It operates passenger charter services and plans to expand into scheduled passenger and dedicated cargo services. Its main hub is Tianjin Binhai International Airport in Tianjin.^[3] Flights were suspended for one month beginning on December 15, 2008, due to a dispute between the carrier and its shareholders.^[4]

History

Okay Airways was established in June 2004 and in February 2005 received an aviation carrier business license from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). It is China's first private sector airline. The carrier's maiden flight from its base in Tianjin to Changsha was on March 11, 2005, with 81 people on board.^[5]

In August 2005, the airline signed a letter of intent with Korean Air under which it and another Korean company were to have acquired 49% of the airline, but agreement could not be reached over the issue of control and the deal failed.^[6] Okay Airways leased three Boeing 737-300F aircraft and started cargo services as a local partner of FedEx Express in March 2007.^[7]

On 15 December 2008 the airline suspended passenger operations.^[8] Passenger operations resumed on 24 January 2009.^[9]

Destinations

Okay Airways's passenger routes include from Tianjin to Changsha, Chengdu, Haikou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Hefei, Kunming, Nanjing and Zhangjiajie.

Its cargo destinations include Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Shenyang, Tianjin, Dalian and Xiamen.

Fleet

The Okay Airways fleet includes (as of 25 August 2010) [1]:

• 2 Boeing 737-300F (Cargo division)
• 3 Boeing 737-800
• 2 Xian MA60

On 25 February 2005 Boeing announced that Okay Airways had received its first Boeing 737-9B5, becoming the first Chinese airline to operate the largest model of the Boeing 737 family. The airline is sub-leasing 2 Boeing 737-900s from Korean Air. These have now been replaced by the two Boeing 737-800 aircraft leased from International Lease Finance.^{[citation needed]}

The airline signed a letter of intent for 30 Xian MA60 aircraft. Once the order is confirmed, delivery schedules will follow.^[10]

During the 2010 Farnborough Airshow, Okay Airlines ordered ten additional Boeing 737-800 aircraft.^[11]

References

1. ^ "北京总公司." Okay Airways. Retrieved on October 4, 2009.
2. ^ "China to approve private airline - report.(Okay Airways Co)(Brief Article)." Airline Industry Information. February 22, 2005. Retrieved on October 4, 2009.
3. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 58. 2007-04-10. 
4. ^ "China's Okay Airways suspends flights for 1 month". USA Today. 2008-12-04. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-12-04-okay-air-suspension_N.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
5. ^ http://in.china-embassy.org/eng/ssygd/t186922.htm
6. ^ Air Transport World 9 May 2007
7. ^ FedEx Announces Next-Business-Day Domestic Express Service in China
8. ^ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-12/04/content_7271500.htm
9. ^ http://airlineroute.blogspot.com/2009/01/chinas-okay-airways-returns.html
10. ^ Airliner World January 2007
11. ^ "More orders at Farnborough on day three". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 21 July 2010. http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/215310.asp?source=rss. Retrieved 21 July 2010. 

External links

• Okay Airways (Chinese)
• Okay Airways Fleet