The story
China United Airlines was established in 1986 as an arm of the civil transport division of the People's Liberation Army Air Force. In 2000, China United Airlines spent US$120 million to buy a Boeing 767-300ER, which was previously ordered by Delta Air Lines, as Jiang Zemin's private jet. Several days before its first flight, covert listening devices were found installed in the toilet, corridor, and even in Jiang's headboard. The devices were believed to be controlled and monitored by satellite. The Central Intelligence Agency, the United States Embassy in China, and China United Airlines refused to comment on this incident. The specific aircraft was sold to Air China and then Sunday Airlines of Kazakhstan in 2014 after its retirement.
In November 2002, all scheduled services were ceased, followed by a full suspension of flight operations in 2003 due to a Chinese governmental regulation prohibiting the Army from being directly involved in commercial activities. On 4 June 2005, the Civil Aviation Administration of China approved the relaunch of the airline, with Shanghai Airlines holding 80 percent of the stake, as well as China Aviation Supplies Holding Company as a secondary shareholder. Even though China United Airlines has since then lost its military status, it is uniquely still permitted to use military air bases as destinations, in contrast to other Chinese airlines and other airlines in general.
China United Airlines was acquired by China Eastern Airlines in 2010 as the result of China Eastern's merger with its parent company, Shanghai Airlines. While Shanghai Airlines website has been integrated into the China Eastern website, China United Airlines continues to have its own website though it only use Chinese language.
With the opening of Beijing Daxing International Airport on 26 September 2019, China United Airlines began service from the new airport as its main hub and ceased service from Beijing Nanyuan Airport, which was its main operating base since its foundation.
From Wikipedia’s article on China United Airlines, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3