Cargo Plus Aviation
United Arab Emirates · Active
Airline Identity
History
Lucky Air was established in July 2004 as Shilin Airlines, a joint venture backed by Hainan Airlines and Shanxi Airlines, before being renamed Lucky Air in December 2005 and beginning scheduled service on 26 February 2006 with a debut route linking Kunming and Dali. As part of the HNA Group family of carriers, the airline grew from a small regional operator in Yunnan province into one of China's more significant privately-affiliated airlines, gradually adding Boeing 737s and Airbus A320-family jets alongside a small number of widebody Airbus A330s for longer regional and international routes. In January 2016 Lucky Air became one of the four founding members of the U-FLY Alliance, the world's first alliance built specifically for low-cost carriers, alongside Hong Kong Express, Urumqi Air and West Air. The airline weathered the 2021 restructuring and financial troubles of its parent HNA Group, continuing to operate under the reorganized HNA Aviation structure. It has steadily expanded international service from its Yunnan base into Southeast Asia, reflecting Kunming's role as a gateway between China and the ASEAN region.
Current Operations
Lucky Air operates roughly 50 aircraft, combining Airbus A320/A320neo/A321neo narrowbodies and Boeing 737-700/800/MAX 8 jets with a handful of Airbus A330-300 widebodies used on longer routes. The airline serves around 60 destinations, the large majority domestic Chinese cities plus a growing set of international points in Southeast Asia. Its principal hub is Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG), with secondary operating bases at Lijiang, Chengdu Tianfu and Zhengzhou. Recent expansion has focused on new international routes out of Yunnan, including a Dali-Kuala Lumpur service launched in January 2025 and the resumption of Kunming-Jakarta flights in late 2025. As a U-FLY Alliance founding member, Lucky Air maintains interline cooperation with fellow Chinese low-cost carriers rather than membership in one of the three major global alliances; it is a low-cost regional carrier, not a major international flag carrier.
Last verified 2026-08-22· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.