Founder of Spring Airlines Wang Zhenghua (right) practices tai chi during a livestreaming event on Tuesday. Photo: Courtesy of Spring Airlines

 Aviation has now entered the realm of livestreaming, with more carriers venturing into the sector in a bid to further promote sales. 

Juneyao Airlines began its online streaming campaign on Wednesday night, broadcasting live from the business cabin of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner with the help of the latest 5G technologies.

Products advertised during the online streaming session included return flight tickets, one year memberships and cash discounts, alongside free merchandise such as plane models and dolls. 

Juneyao operates six Boeing 787s, the last of which was added to its fleet at the end of 2019.

On Tuesday, just one day before Juneyao, Spring Airlines launched its own streaming promotion. Among other possible purchases, advertisers can pay to have the body of a Spring Airlines aircraft painted.

"An advertisement covering the full body of the plane would usually cost 14 million yuan ($1.97 million) for a whole year. Now it's about 50 percent off, down to 6.66 million yuan," said Wang Zhenghua, founder of Spring Airlines, during the livestream. 

In a note sent to the Global Times, Spring Airlines said it had received enquiries from companies in the games, fast-moving consumer goods and finance sectors, all of which expressed an interest in cooperation. 

Spring Airlines' first livestreaming session generated over 12 million views, with 1.01 million people simultaneously tuning in at its peak. The total trade volume during the show reached beyond 30 million yuan.

Wang Yu, CEO of Spring Airlines, hosted a livestreaming event on April 25 which generated over 8.38 million views. 

Spring Airlines is the largest private carrier in China, and all its planes are from the A320 series. The company said it would cost advertisers 14 million yuan to have an aircraft painted for one year. 

The airline officially launched its in-flight advertising business in 2017. In June 2018, it announced its first painting advertisement cooperation with Booking.com. 

Other airlines hosting online streaming sessions include Tianjin Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines. Shenzhen Airlines has introduced coupons for discounts of up to 80 percent of business class fares, hoping to increase its business class occupancy.

Livestreaming is another way to boost confidence at a time when the aviation industry is suffering deeply from the coronavirus pandemic. 

The International Air Transport Association predicts that global air transport demand will decline by 82 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, 56 percent in the third and 33 percent in the fourth.

As various regions have gradually resumed work and production, the Chinese regulator has issued a series of policies to support civil aviation including subsidies for international routes. The domestic civil aviation market has shown signs of picking up.

Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China in April showed that national civil aviation transported totaled 16.7 million passengers, a decrease of 68.5 percent year-on-year and an increase of 10.4 percent from the previous month.

The passenger load factor exceeded 70 percent for both Spring Airlines and Juneyao Airlines in April. Passenger load factors of the country's three major airlines - Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines - all rose to over 60 percent.

China Southern Airlines said in a note it sent to the Global Times that its number of daily flights has reached more than 1,000, returning to nearly 70 percent of its pre-coronavirus level.

On Wednesday, the first China Southern Airlines A330 to be decorated with images of lychees departed from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. 

The promotion for local produce was jointly launched by China Southern Airlines and the Guangdong provincial department of agriculture and rural affairs. 

According to the airline, the decoration was in response to the provincial government's call to promote the local agricultural sector. It is set to benefit local economic development as well as the overall agricultural development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.