China Airlines

From Wikicompany

China Airlines (CAL, Chinese: 中華航空, commonly abbreviated 華航) is the state-owned airline of China.

The airline is based in [[Category:Taipei|], Taiwan (not to be confused with Air China.

The airline, based at Chiang Kai Shek International Airport, currently flies to many destinations in Asia, Europe, North America and the South Pacific. Because of political obstacles due to the establishment of the Three Links, it does not have regularly scheduled flights into mainland China; passengers to mainland China must go through Hong Kong, transferring to another airline.

Code Data

• IATA Code: CI
• ICAO Code: CAL
• Callsign: Dynasty

History

Before the Chinese Civil War, there were a total of three airlines operating in the Republic of China. One was Civil Air Transport, created by General Claire L. Chennault and Whiting Willauer in 1946. The other two were joint ventures of Pan American World Airways with the ROC state, and Lufthansa with the ROC state. After the Chinese Civil War, only Civil Air Transport moved along with the ROC government to Taiwan.

With a total fleet of 2 PBY Amphibians, China Airlines was established in 1959 to create an airline with shares completely held by the ROC state. During the 1960s, China Airlines was able to establish its first domestic and international routes, and in 1962, a flight from Taipei to Hualien became the airline's first domestic service. Growth continued and in 1966, Hanoi,Vietnam became the airline's first international destination.

The next 22 years saw sporadic but large growth for the company. Routes were opened to Los Angeles International Airport, JFK International Airport, London Heathrow Airport and Charles De Gaulle International Airport, among others. Jets were acquired, and China Airlines employed such planes as the Boeing 747 in their fleet. In 1984, the airline launched a new service to Amsterdam, the airline's first European destination. Later, the airline inaugurated its own round-the-world flight until 1986 or 1987: (Taipei-Anchorage-New York, New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport)-Amsterdam-Dubai-Taipei).

1993 saw China Airlines listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

The airline unveiled "blossom flower", replacing the national flag, on October 7, 1995.

On April 17, 2002, China Airlines operated the last scheduled international flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport before all Tokyo international flights were moved to Narita Airport on April 18.

In recent years, pro-Taiwan independence activists have sought to rename the airline to "Taiwan Airlines", arguing that foreigners in the past have confused this airline with Air China and that "China" is not a representative name for an airline that does not service mainland China. In late 2004, President Chen Shui-bian proposed to rename all state-owned enterprises bearing the name "China" to "Taiwan." This was opposed by the pan-blue coalition. The issue was dropped after the ROC legislative election, 2004.

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Relations to other articles — Click (+) to find similar articles.
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Attributes of China Airlines — Click (+) to find similar articles.
of type: transportation (+)
founding year: 1,959 (+)

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