Juneyao Air was founded in 2005 (as Junyao Airlines). In March 2006, the airline ordered 2
Airbus A319 and 6
Airbus A320 aircraft with 3 aircraft (2
Airbus A319 and 1
Airbus A320) to be delivered that same year under a lease agreement with
GECAS. The first aircraft, an Airbus A319, was delivered in September, and services commenced on 25 September. Before services commenced, Junyao Airlines rebranded to "Juneyao Airlines" after deciding against the name "Phoenix Airlines". In early 2010, Juneyao Airlines's parent company, Juneyao Group, sold its 71.4% stake in
Okay Airways to
Datian Wu Liu, in order to concentrate on Juneyao Airlines. By 2014, due to a large number of
low cost carriers entering China, Juneyao Airlines applied to launch a low cost carrier subsidiary,
9 Air, to be based in
Guangzhou. 9 Air commenced operations in January 2015. In September 2016, Juneyao Airlines signed a memorandum of understanding with
Boeing for 10
Boeing 787-9 aircraft. At this time, the airline had a fleet of 60
Airbus A320 family aircraft. In January 2017, a firm order for 5 787-9 aircraft (with options for 5 more) was approved, with deliveries scheduled for 2018 and 2019. The airline's first 787 was delivered in October 2018. Initially operating domestic services, Juneyao Airline's 787 aircraft operated its first international flight between
Shanghai and
Singapore in February 2019. At the start of 2019,
China Eastern Air Holding acquired a 7% stake in Juneyao Airlines. In February 2019, the airline applied to operate flights to
Vladivostok,
Cairo, and
London. In June 2020,
China Eastern Airlines announced the launch of
Sanya International Airlines, with Juneyao Airlines to acquire a 15% stake in the airline. At the end of 2020, the airline suffered a loss of
CNY 749 million due to the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2023, Juneyao Air took delivery of its first
Airbus A321neo, assembled locally in
Tianjin. In July 2025, it was announced that the airline will be taking over the Singapore-Wuxi route from
Jetstar Asia, who will be ceasing operations on 31 July 2025. The route will be serviced using an
Airbus A320neo aircraft, and will be flying between the two cities on a four times a week basis starting 29 August 2025. ==Corporate affairs==