Mandarin Airlines
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| Mandarin Airlines | ||
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| IATA AE |
ICAO MDA |
Callsign Mandarin |
| Founded | 1991 | |
| Hubs | Taipei Songshan Airport Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport |
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| Frequent flyer program | Dynasty Flyer | |
| Member lounge | Dynasty Lounge | |
| Fleet size | 10 | |
| Destinations | 22 (including charter flights) | |
| Parent company | China Airlines, Limited | |
| Headquarters | Taipei, Taiwan | |
| Key people | Chao, Ringo Kuo-Shui (Chairman) |
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| Website: http://www.mandarin-airlines.com | ||
Mandarin Airlines, Limited (華信航空; pinyin: Huáxìn Hángkōng) is an airline based in Taipei, Taiwan. It is China Airlines' regional and domestic subsidiary as well as operates charter services. Its main base is Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.[1]
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[edit] History
Mandarin Airlines was established on June 1, 1991 and was originally a joint venture of China Airlines (66%) and the Koo's Development Corporation (33%); the names of both investors formed the Chinese name of Mandarin Airlines.[2] Mandarin's establishment had much to do with the political status of Taiwan. At the time, Mandarin Airlines' parent company, China Airlines, still carried the national flag of the Republic of China on its livery as a symbol of the continued existence of the Republic of China government. Because of this, the People's Republic of China at mainland China had used its influence to block any country that it had formal diplomatic relationship with from allowing China Airlines to establish routes to it, such in the case of Canada and Australia. However, PRC objected less to ROC airlines that did not carry the national flag from flying international routes, thus Mandarin Airlines was established to take advantage of this, while preserving China Airlines' role as the flag carrier of the Republic of China.[citation needed]
On 16 October 1991 Mandarin Airlines started operations with direct flights from Taipei to Sydney in Australia. The next step was the opening of a direct air route to Vancouver in Canada on 7 December 1991. Thus, Mandarin Airlines became ROC's first airline to fly direct to Australia and Canada.[citation needed] The China Trust Group pulled its investment in Mandarin Airlines on 31 October 1992, turning the airline into a company virtually wholly owned by China Airlines (90.05%) by December 1992. Also, Mandarin Airlines' role was changed to be a primary domestic and short-range intra-regional airline[2], after parent China Airlines was able to re-establish its emphasis on international routes, due to it changed to a new livery that did not include the national flag, and thus faced less objection from PRC.[citation needed]
On 8 August 1999 China Airlines formally merged its subsidiary, Mandarin Airlines, with Formosa Airlines under the Mandarin name. Mandarin took over Formosa's domestic operations and aircraft while Mandarin's fleet and most of its international flights were transferred to China Airlines.[2] In early 2000, the airline took 5 Dornier 228 from Uni Air for outer-lying routes operation. But these planes are sold to Daily Air in 2005, a helicopter carrier in Taiwan which recently won the bid for flying these money-losing routes.[citation needed]
Mandarin Airlines is owned by China Airlines (93.99%) and has 630 employees (at March 2007).[1]
[edit] Logo
The airline uses Hai Tung Ching, a golden eagle from a Chinese legend, as its logo.[3]
[edit] Incidents and accidents
- China Airlines Flight 642 crashed in Hong Kong International Airport in 1999, resulting in three passenger deaths. The aircraft was painted in Mandarin Airlines' paint but originally from the China Airlines under the fleet transfer.
[edit] Destinations
Mandarin Airlines operates the following services (as of June 2008)[4]
[edit] Asia
- East Asia
- Republic of China
- Hong Kong SAR
- Japan
- South Korea
- Southeast Asia
- Myanmar
- Philippines
- Vietnam
[edit] Fleet
The Mandarin Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (as of 03 June 2008):[5]
Mandarin Airlines announced the lease of three Embraer E-190s and five Embraer E-195 aircraft from GE Commercial Aviation Services. The aircraft will be used on the dedicated connection flights between Kaohsiung International Airport and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport as well as shorthaul routes in Asia, and replace the fleet of Fokker 50 and Fokker 100s[6]. The first of eight leased Embraer E-190/195s was delivered to the airline in May 2007, the first to a Taiwanese airline.[7] The Embraer E-190s feature a refreshened livery.[8]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-10, p. 47.
- ^ a b c "About Us." Mandarin Airlines.
- ^ "Our business mark and concept of operations." Mandarin Airlines.
- ^ "Our Flight Destinations." Mandarin Airlines.
- ^ Mandarin Airlines Fleet
- ^ Mandarin Airlines News
- ^ Air Transport World 15 May 2007
- ^ Airliners.net
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