Air Spring Airlines is a low-cost airline based in Shanghai, China. It is the first low-cost airline in China. While the company has adopted the English name "Spring Airlines", the Chinese characters literally mean "Spring and Autumn Airlines". It was given the approval to be established on 26 May 2004, and started operations on 18 July 2005.
China Flights & International
The airline took delivery of its first aircraft, an Airbus A320 (formerly of Lotus Air), on 12 July 2005, at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. It started operations with a flight between Shanghai and Yantai on 18 July 2005. Daily flights to Guilin were also initiated. Spring Airlines is the aviation subsidiary of the Shanghai Spring International Travel Service.
To keep operating costs low, Spring sells tickets exclusively from its website and offers no complimentary on-board meals, but only bottled water on flights. However, customers can still purchase meals on board. In December 2006, the airline offered a 1-yuan promotional price which caused trouble with government officials. Nearly all of the fleet took to the air between 07:00 and 07:50, and some aircraft do not return to base until 00:50 the following morning.
In early 2007, the airline announced a 2006 net profit of CNY20 million ($2.6 million) on revenue exceeding CNY500 million.
In late July of 2009, Spring's plan to establish overseas routes was granted by the General Administration of Civil Aviaton making it the second private carrier in China to explore the international market. The airline plans to operate short-distance routes linking mainland Chinese cities to Hong Kong and Macau, as well as neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea and Russia. Its first international flight will be to Tokyo using Ibaraki Airport. And the 2nd international service will be Shanghai (PuDong) / Hong Kong, which have been operating at 28th September 2010.