Air China has extended the lease on its Gulfstream IV until early 2006 as market conditions in China and across Asia show signs of improvement.
Air China opened its business jet charter division in October 2003 with one GIV on a one-year lease from the manufacturer. The carrier struggled initially to find customers for the aircraft and earlier this year looked at switching to a smaller business jet (Flight International, 1-7 June).
"It's been a learning experience," says a Gulfstream source. "You didn't really have any large-size aircraft in China. From a charter standpoint there was nothing in the GIV category. They are now hitting stride with the aircraft and the market has picked up."
The Air China GIV, along with a GIV and two Boeing 737-300s added this year by Hainan Airlines' Deer Jet subsidiary, are the largest business jets available for charter in China. Other aircraft in the fledgling and so far unprofitable Chinese charter market include six Raytheon Hawker 800s at Hainan AIrlines subsidiary Deer Jet, two Bombardier Challenger 604s at Shandong Airlines subsidiary Rainbow Jet and one Challenger 800 at Shanghai Airlines.
There are also five VIP-configured Bombardier CRJ100s operated exclusively for the government by China United Airlines. These aircraft have been temporarily grounded since the Chinese Yunnan Airlines CRJ crash last month.
Source: Flight International
