Qinghai Airlines | Xian MA60 | B-9924 | 2010-present

Qinghai Airlines was formed in 2010 in order to provide service to the smaller airports of its namesake province. Mainly operating from Xining, the company started with a fleet of 6 used Xian MA60 aircraft. The fleet grew to a maximum of 19 in 2015, however was reduced to 13 due to significant losses the airline was facing, due to a combination of the use of a small, inefficient turboprop on its services as well as it mainly operating low-yielding point-to-point services.

Inspite of this, in 2017 Qinghai Airlines added the first of 7 E190s to its fleet, purchased to allow the airline to expand to more profitable routes from Xining to the larger metropolitan areas in the eastern side of China. The arrival of the jets, which offered significant fuel savings, larger passenger capacity and longer range compared to the MA60, brought along with them record high profits. The airline was so impressed with the E-Jets that in 2019 it proceeded to place an order for 26 Embraer E2s, to be delivered between 2020 and 2023. Along with those came rumors that the MA60 was being retired from the fleet, though the airline has yet to adress them.

B-9924 was originally built in 2004. It was taken up by Qinghai Airlines in 2013, and has remained with the airline since then. It sits 60 passengers in an all-economy configuration. This particular MA60 has been dedicated to flights within Qinghai Province, and is mostly seen within the province, as well the few inter-province services from the smaller airports of Delingha, Golog, Huatugou and Yushu, mainly to Lhasa and Xi'an.