Sichuan Airlines' first Wuliangye aircraft has now become a little bee in Europe
A plane's lifetime can be quite exciting.
While working for different airlines, it can wear various uniforms.
Today's protagonist is this Sichuan Airlines A330-200, B-6517, now with Romania's HiSky Europe, YR-KID.
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✅ At Sichuan Airlines
On July 23, 2010, it was ferried from the Airbus Toulouse factory (TLS) to Chengdu Shuangliu (CTU), and officially joined Sichuan Airlines on July 24. It was Sichuan Airlines' second wide-body aircraft and a key model for launching international long-haul routes.
Cabin configuration: C36Y209 (36 business class + 209 economy class, total 245 seats)
Sichuan Airlines 330 fleet: 10 A332s, 7 currently operating, 3 retired; 10 A333s, 9 currently operating, 1 retired
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✅ Sichuan Airlines X Wuliangye aircraft
B-6517, A332, retired from service
B-5923, A333, retired from service
B-5929, A333
B-302T, A321neo
B-8603, A321
B-8438, A321
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✅ HiSky Group
✈️ HiSky (Moldova): Moldovan registration, main base in Chișinău, only 1 aircraft
✈️ HiSky Europe (Romania): EU registration, main base in Bucharest, operates intra-EU routes + medium to long-haul flights
It is a subsidiary of HiSky, with 7 aircraft: 4 A320-200s, 2 A321neos, 1 A330-200
Headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, flight code H4
Founded by former Air Moldova pilots, targeting the strong outbound travel demand in Central and Eastern Europe (Romania, Moldova), filling the regional low-cost carrier market gap. In 2020, it obtained airline operating certificates (AOC) from both Romania and Moldova.
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✅ Aircraft logo: little bee
The bee symbolizes diligence, efficiency, social living, low cost with high output → fitting the low-cost carrier positioning.
Other "bee" airlines:
✈️ French Bee: IATA code BF, long-haul low-cost carrier, logo is a blue little bee
✈️ Buzz (subsidiary of Ryanair): formerly named Buzz, also uses bee elements
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