It has now been 16 years since Tianjin Airlines commenced scheduled operations back in 2007. At that point, the Chinese carrier was known as Grand China Express Air, and it operated small Dornier 328JET aircraft. Under its new name, which it assumed in 2009, its fleet has grown considerably to include widebody planes.
Long-haul flagships
According to ch-aviation.com, Tianjin Airlines' fleet consists of 85 aircraft. Of these, the carrier's widebody flagships are its Airbus A330s, of which it operates six examples across two variants. The most numerous of these are the A330-200, with four examples present at a relatively young average age of 6.3 years old.
This makes them slightly younger than the mean for Tianjin Airlines' fleet as a whole, which currently clocks in at 7.7 years old. The Chinese carrier has configured these European twin-aisle jetliners with 242 economy and 18 business class seats. The latter of these cabins features flatbeds laid out in a six-abreast configuration.
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Tianjin Airlines' other two Airbus A330 family aircraft are examples of the A330-300 variant, with their average age coming to just 5.4 years old. They also feature a two-class configuration, with 279 economy and 24 business class seats.
The Airbus A320 family
Like many carriers worldwide, the backbone of Tianjin Airlines' present fleet is made up of planes from the popular Airbus A320 family, with both the A320ceo and A320neo series present. The most numerous model at the Chinese carrier is the standard A320-200, with 24 examples present at an average of 9.3 years.
In addition to these aircraft, which seat up to 186 passengers depending on the configuration, Tianjin Airlines also flies two examples of the stretched A321-200. Seating 220 and 230 passengers in all-economy configurations, these twinjets are somewhat younger than the carrier's A320-200s, at a mean of 6.2 years.
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Recent years have seen many Airbus A320 operators begin to modernize their fleets with the addition of planes from the A320neo series, and Tianjin Airlines is no exception. The carrier currently has 12 A320neos in its fleet, of which 10 are active, with another on order. They are 3.6 years old on average and have up to 186 seats.
Regional jets
While Tianjin Airlines no longer flies the Dornier 328JET aircraft that it started off with, regional planes still play an important role in its current fleet. Nowadays, it is a big fan of the Embraer E-Jet family, with 11 examples apiece of the E190AR and E190LR models, whose respective average ages are 13.6 and 11.2 years.
At the newer and larger end of the spectrum, Tianjin Airlines also flies 19 examples of the Embraer E195LR, which have a much lower average age of just six years old. These are the carrier's most capacious regional jets, with space onboard for 122 passengers. Meanwhile, its E190s generally have 106 seats onboard.
What do you make of Tianjin Airlines' present fleet? How many of its aircraft have you flown on? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
Source: ch-aviation.com