China Southwest Airlines
former Chinese airline that was based in Chengdu
China Southwest Airlines (中国西南航空公司) was a civil airline headquartered in Shuangliu, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, from 1987 to 2002. It was merged into Air China in October 2002.
History
China Southwest Airlines was established on 15 October 1987. The airline joined the International Air Transport Association in April 1996, and then the Multilateral & Bilateral Interline Traffic Agreements in March 1997. In 2000, the airline had carried 50.5 million passengers as well as 130 tonnes of cargo. On 28 October 2002, the airline merged into Air China.
Destinations
China Southwest Airlines' main hub was at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport and its secondary hub was in Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport. It was the only airline flying to Lhasa Gonggar Airport until 2002. Although most routes from its hubs Chengdu and Chongqing were domestic, it also flew to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Osaka and Seoul.
The following is a incomplete list of destinations served by China Southwest Airlines:
Fleet
Final fleet
At the time of merger, China Southwest Airlines fleet consisted of:
Fleet history
China Southwest Airlines operated a fleet of Boeing 737-300, Boeing 737-600, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 757-200 and Airbus A340-300 aircraft.
The public source identifies “China Southwest Airlines” as former Chinese airline that was based in Chengdu. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around China, Southwest and Airlines.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “China Southwest Airlines”, the useful work is to connect “former Chinese airline that was based in Chengdu” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3730206. VIAF identifies the subject as 316879438. The Library of Congress control number is no2015096819. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 2 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1987, 2002, 1996 and 1997.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “China Southwest Airlines”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow China Southwest Airlines primary sources, China Southwest Airlines archive and China research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “China Southwest Airlines” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.