# China Airlines Cargo (IATA CI · ICAO CAL · AWB 297)

> China Airlines Cargo is the freight division of Taiwan's China Airlines Ltd., using IATA code CI and AWB prefix 297. The operator is the parent company China Airlines Ltd. itself, not a third party, combining its own freighter fleet with belly capacity from its passenger network. The hub is Taiwan Taoyuan. For forwarders, CI is the principal carrier for semiconductor, electronics and machinery shipments out of Taiwan and for temperature-controlled pharma via Taoyuan. Note that its e-AWB procedure accepts prepaid shipments only.

## Quick facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Legal | China Airlines Ltd. |
| IATA | `CI` |
| ICAO | `CAL` |
| AWB prefix | `297` |
| Country | TW |
| Group | China Airlines Ltd. (China Airlines Group) |
| Tracking | https://cargo.china-airlines.com/ccnetv2/content/manage/ShipmentTracking.aspx |

## Overview

China Airlines Cargo is the freight division of Taiwan's China Airlines Ltd., trading under IATA code CI, ICAO code CAL and AWB prefix 297. The company was founded on 16 December 1959, has been stock-listed since 26 February 1993 and is headquartered in Taoyuan City directly next to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

Unlike pure sales brands, China Airlines operates its freighters itself. As of 31 August 2026 the group fleet comprises 84 aircraft, of which 18 are freighters: eight Boeing 747-400F and ten Boeing 777F. On top of that comes belly capacity from 66 passenger aircraft of the A350-900, A330-300, A321neo, Boeing 777-300ER and 737-800 types. Four Boeing 777-8F are on order.

The hub is Taiwan Taoyuan International (TPE). The network covers 176 destinations in 30 countries; a number of points are served by freighter only, among them Luxembourg, Dubai World Central, Anchorage, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Toronto, Mumbai and Delhi. The carrier states it is the only Taiwanese airline operating freighters to Europe, the Americas and Asia; European rotations use stopovers in the Middle East and India to load in two segments. In the first three quarters of 2025 group cargo revenue reached TWD 48.5 billion, up 13.7 percent, at a load factor of 66.6 percent.

What matters for forwarders: the carrier holds its own AWB prefix 297 and handles e-AWB under the IATA Single Process, but accepts prepaid shipments only; charge collect is not available under its e-AWB procedure. Temperature-controlled traffic runs through the Cool Chain product with active containers and temperature-controlled storage at more than 50 stations. Dangerous goods and live animals are handled as separate special products.

## Hubs

- TPE

## Fleet

- Boeing 747-400F × 8

- Boeing 777F × 10

- Boeing 777-8F × 4

## Sources

- [China Airlines Cargo – Our Company](https://cargo.china-airlines.com/ccnetv2/content/about/OurCompany.aspx)

- [IATA – Current Airline Members: China Airlines](https://www.iata.org/en/about/members/airline-list/china-airlines/341/)

- [FAA JO 7340.2P – ICAO Three-Letter Identifiers and Telephony Designators](https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/cnt_html/chap3_section_3.html)

- [China Airlines – CI e-AWB Operation Procedure (Agent) V3.0](https://cargo.china-airlines.com/CCNetV2/downloadfiles/CAL_e-AWB-SOP-Agent_EN_website.pdf)

- [China Airlines Cargo – Cool Chain](https://cargo.china-airlines.com/ccnetv2/content/services/CoolChain.aspx)

- [China Airlines – 2025 4th Investor Conference (12.11.2025)](https://www.china-airlines.com/tw/en/Images/2025%E5%B9%B4%E7%AC%AC%E5%9B%9B%E6%AC%A1%E6%B3%95%E8%AA%AA%E6%9C%83%E7%B0%A1%E5%A0%B1_%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87%E7%89%88_tcm264-74934.pdf)

- [EASA – Authorised Third Country Operators (TCO Status Report, Stand 13.08.2026)](https://www.easa.europa.eu/download/tco-lists/TCO%20Status%20Report.pdf)

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