Chengdu Airlines

Is Chengdu Airlines safe?

Yes, on its record so far. Chengdu Airlines has had no fatal accident and has not lost an aircraft in more than 20 years of flying, first as United Eagle Airlines and since 2010 under its current name. It is an IATA member, so it passes the IATA safety audit. We score it 82.

It is also an unusual airline. It flew the world's first passenger service with China's home-built ARJ21 regional jet, now sold as the C909, and today 31 of its 83 aircraft are that type. Many of those fly short hops between remote airports in Xinjiang, some above 2,400 m. A new aircraft type and hard airports are the two things that keep the score in the low 80s.

United Eagle and Chengdu Airlines

United Eagle Airlines began flying from Chengdu in 2005 with Airbus A319 and A320 jets. In 2009 it was restructured with money from Sichuan Airlines' parent group, the city of Chengdu's investment company and COMAC, the state aircraft maker, and in January 2010 it became Chengdu Airlines. It still uses United Eagle's ICAO code (UEA) and radio callsign.

We treat United Eagle and Chengdu Airlines as one airline, because it is the same company with a new name, and count its full history. That changes nothing here: neither name has an accident in the Aviation Safety Network records.

What is the C909, and should it worry you?

The C909, first called the ARJ21-700, is a 90-seat regional jet with two rear engines and a T-tail. Chengdu Airlines received the first one in November 2015, flew the first passenger service in June 2016, and has flown the type longer than anyone. It ordered 30 at the start and has 31 today. China's regulator certified the type in 2014; Europe's EASA and the US FAA have not approved it.

The C909 has no fatal accident and no hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary so far. But the whole fleet has flown fewer than a million flights, and the safest jet types go many millions of flights between fatal accidents. A clean record that short does not prove much. Our aircraft scores start such a type from the average of its design generation, and we treat it the same way here: the C909 is a newer type, not a proven modern one, and that is why the fleet scores 74 rather than the 80s.

The other 52 aircraft are Airbus A320-family jets, a type with a long, good record. Chengdu Airlines does not publish their age. The C909 also depends on US-made engines and many Western systems, so its parts supply could suffer if export rules tighten; that is a business risk to the schedule more than a flight safety risk today.

Chengdu Airlines does not fly the larger C919, as far as we could find.

Where does Chengdu Airlines fly?

Its network is one of the hardest in China. Since 2023 the airline has moved more than two thirds of its C909 fleet to Xinjiang, with bases at Turpan, Yining and Kashgar and routes to 28 airports in the region. In June 2026 it opened a route through Hejing Bayanbulak, at 2,506 m, its second high-plateau route after Tashkurgan. Thin air at such airports means longer take-off runs and less margin, and the mountains around them bring strong winds and fast-changing weather.

In the north-east, its C909s link Harbin and Shenyang with small airports across Heilongjiang, where winters are long and cold, and it flies to Vladivostok in Russia. From Kashgar it has flown to Khujand in Tajikistan since 2024 and to Osh in Kyrgyzstan since 2026. The Airbus fleet flies trunk routes from Chengdu, where fog and summer storms are common.

What incidents has it had?

The most serious on record is old. On 5 April 2013 an Airbus A319 from Chengdu landed at Nanning in fog, with visibility on the runway of about 225 m and cloud at 100 ft, far below the 550 m the airport's landing system allowed. The aircraft landed safely, but the crew then lost sight of the taxiway. The airline grounded all three pilots. Landing below limits is exactly the kind of decision that causes accidents, but at 13 years old it is outside our 10-year incidents window and no longer lowers the score.

Since then we found only minor events, such as an A320 that returned to Chengdu in 2019 because its landing gear would not retract. That quiet record covers a lot of flying to remote airports that draw little media attention, under a regulator that publishes little. We score serious incidents 72 for that reason, not because of a known recent event.

How we scored it

The accident record (93) is the strength: no fatal accident or lost aircraft in 21 years. The operating environment (66) is the weakest factor, for the high and remote airports of Xinjiang and the winters of Heilongjiang. Fleet (74) reflects the short record of the C909. Overall 82, close to its Chengdu neighbour Sichuan Airlines (84) and Shandong Airlines (82).

If you are booked on a C909 to a small Xinjiang airport, allow slack in your plans: wind and weather at high airports cancel flights more often than in the lowlands.