China Northwest Airlines

In 1988, the State Council decided to split CAAC into six separate airlines, of which China Northwest was one of them. The airline was based in Xi'an. It operated mostly domestic routes but also a handful of international flights to Japan.

In 1996, the airline acquired 80% of Nanjing Airlines. In October 2000, China Northwest Airlines and Shandong Airlines initialed a letter of intent for a joint merger, however, this was not approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. By then the airline was making a loss, and was later acquired by China Eastern Airlines in 2002. After the acquisition the airline was renamed China Eastern Xi Bei.

Destinations

The following is a incomplete list of destinations served by China Northwest Airlines:

Fleet

Final fleet

At the time that China Northwest merged into China Eastern, the airline's fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

Fleet history

Throughout the airline's history, the airline had operated:

Incidents and accidents

On July 23, 1993, Flight 2119 crashed while attempting to take off at Yinchuan Xihuayuan Airport, Ningxia, killing 54 passengers and 1 crew member on board.

On June 6, 1994, Flight 2303 broke apart and crashed while flying between Xi'an and Guangzhou, killing all 160 people on board. This remains the deadliest aviation accident to occur in mainland China.