As a central State-owned enterprise of civil aviation and the largest home base airline in Shanghai, the host city of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd., has introduced a series of service initiatives in the air and on the ground to ensure a smooth travel and exhibition experience for visitors from home and abroad.
The corporation’s CIIE-themed aircraft, Jinbo Hao, has operated more than 2,950 commercial passenger flights and served over 704,000 passengers since its first flight in 2020. The aircraft, painted with the image of the expo’s mascot Jinbao, also plays a role in supporting the expo each year. To date, it has provided services for 39,400 CIIE participants, including domestic and overseas exhibitors, trade delegations and professional visitors, and has efficiently provided various services, such as exhibit transportation.
A CIIE-themed aircraft is decorated with the expo’s mascot Jinbao. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
With regard to passenger service, the corporation has rolled out its special service package for this year’s expo. It offers discounted plane tickets, flexible ticket change and refund options, and various value-added services for government trade delegations, purchasers, exhibiting enterprises and public institutions, as well as professional visitors.
As for air logistics, the corporation’s intelligent cargo terminal at the western zone of Pudong International Airport in Shanghai has introduced intelligent equipment and adopted a “passenger-cargo integration” model to ensure efficient collection and distribution of exhibits with unmanned, digital operations. The corporation’s origin-to-destination service has enabled fresh produce across the globe to reach the Chinese market. Orders for Chilean salmon signed at previous editions of the CIIE, for example, were efficiently delivered to the domestic market through China Eastern’s cold-chain logistics service.
Members of China Eastern Airlines’s youth volunteer team “Lingyan” line up for a group photo. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
“Lingyan”, a youth volunteer team consisting of 100 crew members of the corporation, has set up its service station at the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Shanghai). This is the ninth year of the team offering service to the CIIE. During this expo, the corporation has launched a comprehensive service zone at the North Plaza of the expo site, with its volunteers providing round-the-clock, one-stop services to passengers, including ticket sales and membership support. The volunteer team, which has eight years of CIIE support experience, brought premium airline services into the “four-leaf clover” shaped venue.
Notably, to uphold the vision of hosting a zero-carbon and green expo, the corporation operated multiple carbon-neutral flights on November 5, the CIIE’s opening day.
(Executive editor: Zuo Shihan)
