Well, we sure didn't see this one coming. Budget carrier Spring Airlines has finally been allowed to fly the highly lucrative Shanghai-Beijing route. more ›

If there's one homegrown business that we're proud of in Shanghai, it would have to be Spring Airlines. Since it was established in 2005, the airline has defied the odds to grow in a market that has been heavily regulated by the government in favour of the state-owned carriers. Wang Zhenhua, the founder of the airline, has been known to be so cost-conscious he shares hotel rooms and eats instant noodles with his staff while on business trips. And as you will see in this clip, his office looks rather spartan too. CNN's Stan Grant speaks to Wang and finds out his practise of taichi has had a deep impact on the way he runs his business:
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They already have some of the cheapest rates to Hong Kong - now Spring Airlines is expanding its Shanghai flight list to include Macau. Right now it's only one service a day, going from Macau to Shanghai at 7:10 am and leaving from Shanghai to Macau at 10:30am. So anyone who's been dying to check out the gambling (and the Blue Frog), you can now do it at a much lower price point. more ›

The World Expo, which brought some 70 million visitors to Shanghai, coupled with solid growth in the Chinese aviation sector, have made 2010 a bumper year for the two passenger airlines that call Shanghai home. Boosted in part by its acquisition of Shanghai Airlines, China Eastern expects its 2010 to exceed its previous year's by almost ten times. Meanwhile, China's largest budget airline, Spring Airlines, also didn't do too shabbily, nearly tripling its 2009 net income. And here's some good news: In 2011, the carrier expects to open new routes to Japan, Taiwan, Macau and Southeast Asia. Yay for more cheap airfares! more ›

Oh joy of joys! Anyone who's traveled in China enough knows that flight delays seem to happen more often than not. The waiting period has gotten so bad sometimes that passengers have come to fisticuffs with airline employees. But now you actually get something (besides high blood pressure) from the hours of pre-boarding: cold hard cash. more ›

At roughly half the price they used to be, in fact, according to the budget carrier's website - and you can start taking advantage of it beginning tomorrow (or whenever they have unsold out tickets). The new Spring Air route between Shanghai and Hong Kong directly challenges Cathay Pacific and China Eastern. more ›

China budget traveler Spring Airlines, the company of possible "standing seating" fame, will be going international... if only for a little while. For two monthst starting from late July, it'll link Shanghai and Ibaraki Airport (located 80km northeast of Tokyo). The trial is to check whether there's enough passenger traffic to have a direct flight on a budget carrier between Shanghai and somewhere-slightly-inconvenient, Japan. Hey, a cheap flight is a cheap flight - hop on it! And a cheap flight to Japan will no doubt save you the much needed money to pay for everything else there. more ›

In the latest addition to "brilliant ideas that China likes to try," Spring Airlines is now considering selling standing-only tickets to passengers on their flights. The budget airline currently has only 13 planes in their fleet and cannot meet growing demand for more flights from more passengers. more ›

Freebies, freebies, we love freebies! China Spring Tour, an offshoot from the budget airline Spring Airlines is giving away free one-day introductory tours once per week between September 27 and December 13. Looking at the itinerary — which covers Lujiazui, the Bund, Xintiandi, the Tianhou Silk Factory and Qibao Old Town — we gather this is targeted at complete noobs. Applicants must be foreign nationals who've lived in Shanghai for less than six months, so if you have your passport full of China visas like ours, you're not eligible. Still a good tour to put your visitors on if you have no time to bring them around yourself! more ›

Air Asia, Asia's first budget airline, has just announced its latest China destination. From now on, you can fly from Hangzhou (which is just a stone's throw from Shanghai) to Kuala Lumpur at a fraction of the price! We just did a quick check on their system and if you plan ahead of time, you can expect to pay around RMB1,115 (taxes included) for the flight. You can even select your own seats on the website if you pay an additional RMB48! Kuala Lumpur being Air Asia headquarters, you can fly onward to a host of other exciting Southeast Asian destinations for that much-needed break. Other Chinese destinations currently served by Air Asia are Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen and Macau. more ›

OK, we've never heard of East Star Airlines before, but it has just become the first private airline in China to be authorized to operate international flights. A Xinhua report tells us that under Civil Aviation Administration of China regulations, new airlines may apply to operate international flights only after three years of operations. East Star has been in business less than two years, but it beat rivals Okair, Ueair, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines to be the first. Hmm... we wonder what made them bend those rules! more ›

This video just came in from a reader (Thank you meckleychina!). Apparently the Shanghai-based budget airline Spring Airlines now makes its passengers do in flight exercises. From what we see in the video at least, everyone is taking it very seriously. Now nobody wants to be one of the unlucky few to die of deep-vein thrombosis(DVT) in the air, right? Smaller Chinese boutique airlines have been trying ways and means of injecting more "fun“ into the flying experience lately. Shanghaiist has been flying Hainan Airlines (which is partly owned by George Soros by the way) a lot more recently, and they typically have a little auction game where tickets are given away at below rack rates. Erm still not quite our idea of fun, but you have to give them marks for trying. Does anyone else have interesting experiences with other airlines to share? more ›

Shanghai finally has an answer to Okay Airlines! The first of Shanghai Spring Airlines' Airbus 320s arrived at Hongqiao Airport earlier this week, and the budget airline expects its first flight to Shandong Province's Yantai to leave on July 18. The China Daily makes it seem as though Yantai is the only destination Shanghai Spring currently has permission to fly. more ›