A Skopos Analysis of Chinese Airline Brand Translation Strategies

This essay explores the English translation strategies of Chinese private airline brand names. As Chinese airlines expand globally, their naming choices reflect a complex balance between local culture and global markets. However, existing research often ignores the aviation sector, focusing instead on tangible goods. Therefore, this study analyzes 10 representative cases from China’s private aviation industry using Skopos Theory. This study classifies these translations into two main categories based on their communicative purpose. First, strategies of cultural representation show how airlines use either domestication to ensure accessibility or foreignization to assert a unique cultural identity. Second, strategies of commercial adaptation show how airlines prioritize functional goals, such as corporate consistency or visual efficiency, over semantic meaning. The findings demonstrate that translation in this sector transcends linguistic improvisation, functioning instead as a strategic instrument of corporate positioning governed by teleological rationality. It highlights the explanatory power of Skopos Theory in unifying contradictory naming practices, demonstrating that translation serves as a strategic mechanism for balancing national identity with the imperatives of global market integration.