China Eastern retires old Airbus jets
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China Eastern Airlines has officially retired its fleet of Airbus A300 aircraft.
The final flight using the old wide-body aircraft flew from Shenzhen to Shanghai on 31 May, marking the end of 25 years of service. China Eastern took delivery of its first A300-600 in 1989 and eventually operated 18 of the aircraft.
The move marks the latest stage in China Eastern’s fleet modernisation plan. Since 2010, the Shanghai-based carrier has retired nine MD-90s, three Boeing 767s, five A340-300s and three A300 cargo jets. The carrier also plans to retire all A340-600 jets in the near future.
These will be replaced by new, more fuel-efficient aircraft, including 20 new Boeing 777-300ERs, which will start being delivered to the airline from September 2014. The carrier also has outstanding orders for more than 80 single-aisle Airbus A320s and 20 COMAC C919s.
The A300 entered service in 1974 as the world’s first twin-engined wide-body aircraft. Airbus ended the programme in 2007.
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