China Airlines

The history of China Airlines as flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) goes back to the development of aviation on mainland China. At the end of the second Kuomintang/Communist civil war in 1949, the government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan. In the beginning, the CIA took care of air transport in Taiwan, but, in 1959, the government decided to set up its own airline: China Airlines. Soon afterwards, China Airlines started up its first flights using two PBY-5B amphibious aircraft. In October 1962, the first regular domestic passenger flight took off from Taipei to Hualien, and during the Vietnam War, China Airlines assisted the American forces by carrying out flights for replenishment and evacuation of US military. In the seventies, the airline was transformed from a mainly military into a mainly civil airline, and, upon the arrival of Boeing 707s, China Airlines launched its first intercontinental route from Taipei to San Francisco via Tokyo. In the early nineties, the airline continued to expand its fleet by buying Boeing 747-400s, Boeing 737-800s and Airbus A300-600Rs. In 2011, the government opened up private equity investment, and EADS (Airbus’ parent company) obtained a ten per cent stake in the Chinese carrier. Fully illustrated with over 140 images, this book tells the fascinating story of China’s national carrier from its earliest years to the present day.