On December 21, the first B737-800 with low-cost carrier configuration delivered by Dragon Aviation Leasing Co., Ltd (Dragon Aviation Leasing) to China United Airlines was landed at Beijing Nanyuan Airport. The flight was made from Seattle, U.S., to Beijing, China.
The B737-800 was jointly leased by China Eastern Airlines and China United Airlines, and operated by the latter. Compared with the traditional dual-class configuration, the full economy class configuration of this aircraft increases the average number of seats and reduces seat-kilometer cost. After last December’s delivery of 4 B737-800s, it was the second cooperation between Dragon Aviation Leasing and China Eastern Airlines and China United Airlines. It was also the first full economy class configuration aircraft received by China United Airlines after its announcement of building itself a low-cost carrier. The delivery marks a solid step forward of Dragon Aviation Leasing in expanding the domestic low-cost aviation market. In addition, another two B737-800s of the same configuration are expected to deliver in succession to China United Airlines by this month.
The aircraft was transacted in Dongjiang mode. Thanks to the continuous improvement of the tax policy in the bonded area, the tax burden of domestic lessee airlines has been significantly reduced, so as the transaction cost of both the lessers and the lessees to some extent. The Dongjiang transaction mode has been used by more and more Chinese leasing companies.
The cooperation will expand and deepen the long-term close cooperative relations among the three parties. In the next few years, Dragon Aviation Leasing will continue to expand its fleet and domestic and foreign markets, and build itself a prestigious distinctive aviation leasing company in Asia and beyond.