Air China Limited ("Air China") and its predecessor, the former Air China, were founded in 1988. According to the "Civil Aviation System Reform Program" which was approved and passed by the State Department in October 2002, the former Air China consolidated with China National Aviation Company and China Southwest Airlines and founded China Aviation Group Company. Based on the combined air transportation resources of the three entities, the new Air China Company was established. On September 30th, 2004, approved by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), Air China Limited was officially launched in Beijing, operating air transport services as its primary business and controlled by the China Aviation Group. On December 15th, 2004, Air China successfully listed in Hong Kong (SEHK: 0753) and London (LSE: AIRC).
Air China’s logo consists of an artistic Phoenix pattern, the Chinese name of the airline written in calligraphy by former national leader Mr. Deng Xiaoping, and "AIR CHINA" written in English. The phoenix logo is also an artistic transfiguration of the word "VIP". The color is the traditional Chinese red which implies auspiciousness, completion, peace and happiness, and expresses Air China's sincere passion to serve society and endlessly pursue safety. Air China holds its vision and orientation as “a well-established global airline”, the connotation of which is to realize four strategic objectives: leading competitiveness in the world market, continuously enhanced development potential, excellent and distinguished travel experiences for passengers, and steadily increasing profits. Its enterprise spirit emphasizes "serving the world with a warm heart and guiding the future by innovation". Its enterprise mission is to "meet the requirements of customers and create mutual value". Its enterprise sense of worth is to "deliver a high level of service and earn universal approval from the public". Its service philosophy is "Credibility, Convenience, Comfort and Choice".
As of December 31, 2012, Air China (including its holding companies) owns 461 aircraft, featuring Boeing and Airbus, with an average age of 6.54 years.  It operates 284 passenger routes, including 72 international routes, 15 regional routes and 197 domestic routes, covering 29 countries and regions, and 145 cities (45 international cities, 4 regions, and 96 domestic cities). In cooperation with Star Alliance member airlines, its service network is further extended to 1,329 destinations in 194 countries.
Air China is committed to providing passengers with the "Four Cs" service of Credibility, Convenience, Comfort and Choice. Air China’s frequent flyer program, PhoenixMiles, has the longest history of any frequent flyer program in China. Through the integration of its various memberships under Air China holding companies and joint-stock companies, all are unified as “PhoenixMiles”. By the end of 2012, the PhoenixMiles program had more than 19.97 million members. Air China is the first domestic civil airline to launch "Forbidden Pavilion" First Class and "Capital Pavilion" Business Class, the two-class elite services on medium-to-long distance flights featuring "lie-flat seats" and a "distinguished service throughout the journey" experience, which provides passengers with distinguished, comfortable and convenient travel space and considerate service. Air China adheres to customer-oriented service innovation, and has rolled out a series of new products including the “Global Flight Manager Program" and " Air China Unlimited". Air China enjoys a strong domestic and international connection capacity and sales network, owns an extensive high-quality client group and has become the first choice for many clients from Chinese governmental o