At noon on September 12, Yan Yu, Li Daokun, Yu Liangjun, and 13 other college freshmen who graduated respectively from Beichuan Secondary School, Wenchuan Weizhou Secondary School and Jiangyou No. 1 Secondary School of earthquake-stricken areas, traveled free of charge to Beijing on Air China flight CA1406, to start their new lives at university. This move signifies the official start of Air China’s love and support activities, providing students in disaster-hit areas with 400 air tickets free of charge and 1,200 air tickets at a 75% discount.

Among these outstanding students flying to study in Beijing, five were enrolled in Peking University, ten were admitted to the Central University of Nationalities, and one was admitted to Beijing Language and Culture University. Air China Southwest Branch held a brief but warm send-off ceremony in the lounge. Leaders from the Propaganda Department of Sichuan Provincial Committee, Sichuan Provincial Committee of Communist Youth League and Sichuan Provincial Department of Education, as well as Luo Guojun, the Branch Deputy Party Secretary, participated in the farewell ceremony and encouraged the students to continue their earthquake relief spirit of self-discipline and unending support, and transform the love they received from society into learning motivation, so as to grow into useful talents as early as possible and give back to society. As the highest-ranking student in the entrance examination of Jiangyou, and a freshman of Peking University, Yu Liangjun explained excitedly how the Party and government set up temporary classrooms for college candidates in earthquake-hit areas, brought them school supplies and created for them a comfortable environment in which to sit their college entrance examinations. From this support, the students felt deeply the selflessness of caring people throughout the country and were encouraged to enter university with courage and confidence after having contended with the devastating earthquake. At the moment of their leaving home to study, the students expressed their sincere wishes for Sichuan Province to overcome its difficulties and rebuild itself into a land of abundance. Zhao Ying, Standing Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department of Sichuan Provincial Committee and Provincial Information Office, commended the cadres and workers of Air China for their rapid response in emergency mobilization for all out disaster relief transportation, and their enthusiastic contributions of money and supplies; thus, actively promoting tourism in Sichuan and providing strong security for the relief efforts and post-disaster reconstruction of the Province. On that day, Air China Southwest Branch provided one-stop and thoughtful services for these college freshmen, flying them from disaster-stricken areas to Beijing. The ground service division specially assigned staff to assist the entire process of check-in, security inspection and boarding; the cabin service division also appointed their National Youth Civilization air crew “Blue Journey” to take up service in the air.

After the devastating earthquake in Wenchuan, society as a whole was greatly concerned about the students in disaster-hit areas who had participated in the national college entrance examination and were admitted by domestic universities. People from all walks of life tried to reach out to these students to help them overcome difficulties in learning and life. Air China Southwest Branch also cooperated with Sichuan Provincial Department of Education and the Sichuan Provincial Committee of Communist Youth League to launch the “Favorable Fare Transport Plan for College Students from Disaster Areas” initiative, providing free and discounted air tickets to students with financial difficulties from forty-five districts and counties in the six cities and prefectures of Chengdu, Deyang, Mianyang, Guangyuan, Ya'an, Aba, whose college entrance examination had been delayed due to the disaster. Among the air tickets, 400 were provided free of charge, mainly to college freshmen, and 1,200 tickets were provided at a 75% discount, mainly to new entrants and enrolled students. It has been learned that the approval standards for students as recipients of disaster assistance are as follows: first, students who stood forth as model citizens in earthquake relief efforts and were honored by the national and provincial government; second, students who became orphaned or disabled in the earthquake; third, students with particularly outstanding academic performances; and fourth, students from families receiving subsistence allowances or whose families face severe financial difficulties due to the earthquake. According to the number of examination candidates in the delayed areas and the principle of preference to seriously-stricken areas, the allocation of free air tickets in the six cities and prefectures is: 60 to Chengdu, 90 to Deyang, 140 to Mianyang, 70 to Guangyuan, 20 to Ya'an and 20 to Aba; of the discounted air tickets, 180 went to Chengdu, 270 to Deyang, 420 to Mianyang, 210 to Guangyuan, 60 to Ya'an and 60 to Aba. The implementation of love and support activities are an important part of Air China’s overall proposal to announce the launch of its “Enjoying the Trip to Sichuan and Travelling with Air China” initiative, supporting the revitalization of tourism in the province and commencing public welfare activities at the 31st earthquake relief special news conference, jointly held with the Propaganda Department of Sichuan Provincial Committee, Sichuan Provincial Department of Education, Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Tourism and the Sichuan Provincial Committee of Communist Youth League. Under this plan, Air China will spray paint specially-chosen aircraft with the theme of Sichuan tourism promotion, and demonstrate the new image of Sichuan Province – accelerated development, opening, cooperation and vitality – in their fuselage advertising. Currently, the design proposal of painting aircrafts is almost complete; and at the same time, Air China is set to commence themed publicity of Sichuan tourism on all of its websites and the website of Star Alliance.

After the Wenchuan earthquake occurred, Air China rapidly established an emergency command station to mobilize nationwide transport capacity, evacuate stranded passengers, and deliver disaster relief forces, medical personnel and relief supplies into Sichuan province; it also selected two well-performing Boeing 757 aircraft for cabin-wide transformation to fly 30 flights, carrying 996 wounded people on stretchers. In addition, China National Aviation Holding Company, Air China ltd., and their employees contributed a total of RMB 23.45 million to disaster areas; Air China donated RMB 4.3 million from its staff love fund to the China Youth Development Foundation to support the construction of seven “Air China Anti-earthquake Hope Primary Schools” in disaster-hit areas; Air China Southwest Branch also targeted its RMB 3 million of staff donations on aiding the seriously-hit staff training centre of Deyang Oriental Steam Turbine Works.