Chinese carrier Sichuan Airlines has a significant presence in the west of the country. With two hubs in Chengdu, and others in Chongqing and Kunming, it operates a fleet that consists entirely of Airbus jets. Let's take a closer look at the exact models that it flies.

Widebodies

According to data from ch-aviation.com, there are currently 179 aircraft present in the wider Sichuan Airlines fleet. All of these come from multinational European planemaker Airbus, whose A330 and A350 families account for the Chinese carrier's widebody aircraft.

Starting with the A330 series, Sichuan Airlines flies five examples of the A330-200. Four of these are active, and they have an average age of 7.8 years old. Its A330-300s are slightly younger, with its seven active examples clocking in at 6.2 years old on average.

On an even younger level, Sichuan Airlines has also begun taking deliveries of the next-generation Airbus A350 in recent years. To date, it has received four examples of the A350-900, with another 10 yet to arrive. Those that are already onboard have an average age of just 3.5 years old. They accommodate 303 economy and 28 business class passengers.

Sichuan Airlines Airbus A350
Sichuan Airlines received its first A350-900 in August 2018. Photo: Airbus

Narrowbodies

While Airbus widebodies play an important role at Sichuan Airlines, the bulk of its fleet consists of single-aisle aircraft. The most numerous of these is the Airbus A320-200, of which it presently has 53 examples at its disposal. In terms of other first-generation A320 family jets, it also flies 20 short-fuselage A319-100s, and 43 examples of the stretched A321-200.

Meanwhile, as seen in the photograph below, the next-generation Airbus A320neo series is also beginning to play an increasingly important role at Sichuan Airlines. To date, the carrier has received 20 examples of the standard A320neo, and has two more on order.

There are also currently 21 A321neos in the present Sichuan Airlines fleet. Two of these carry the 'NX' suffix, with this designation indicating that these jets feature the Airbus 'Cabin Flex' exit arrangement. This enables higher-density seating configurations to be used on busier routes. Sichuan Airlines still has a further eight outstanding orders for the A321neo.

Sichuan Airlines Airbus A320neo
Sichuan Airlines has outstanding orders for two more A320neos. Photo: Airbus

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Different planes for different purposes

While its primary business is flying passengers from place to place, some of Sichuan Airlines' aircraft serve other functions. For example, it has three examples of the corporate Airbus ACJ319-100 at its disposal, with an average age of 14.7 years old. Interestingly, these have the same two-class 132-seat configuration as its standard A319s.

Sichuan Airlines also uses some of its aircraft for dedicated airfreight services. For such purposes, it utilizes three Airbus A330-200F jets, which are nine years old on average. Data from ch-aviation listed all thee as being active at the time of writing. They arrived at the carrier from Doha-based Qatar Airways between July and November in 2019.

What do you make of Sichuan Airlines' all-Airbus fleet? Have you ever flown with this carrier? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!