China United Airlines
Between25 December 1986 and November 2002, some of the division’s staff andaircraft (Tu-154M and An-24) were transferred to the China UnitedAirlines (IATA: CN, ICAO: CUA, and Callsign: Lianhang), a commercialairline company jointly operated by the PLAAF and local governments andenterprises. The airline operated a scheduled charter network usingmilitary airports and reached to destinations which are inaccessible byother commercial airlines in China. In November 2002, China UnitedAirlines ceased its operation due to a new regulation imposed by theChinese Government which disallows the PLA to be involved in commercialactivities.
In 2000, ChinaUnited Airlines purchased a Boeing 767-300ER as the official executiveaircraft of former President Jiang Zemin. The aircraft had originallybeen delivered to Delta Air Lines in June 2000 but was immediatelyresold to China United Airlines. After its transfer to the Chinesecompany, the plane was taken to San Antonio, Texas to be refitted witha custom interior. In the fall of 2001, it was reported that a total of27 covert listening devices were discovered embedded in the plane'sinterior. The Chinese government blamed the CIA for planting the bugs.22 PLAAF and government officials in charged of overseeing the refitwere arrested for suspicion of negligence and corruption.
Aircraft