- Air Asia (Taiwan)
"Air Asia Company Limited" (zh-t|亞洲航空股份有限公司) is a
Taiwan ese-based provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services. It is now located in theTainan Airport . It is the only surviving member ofPacific Corporation , but currently it is owned byTaiwan Aerospace Corporation and is no longer related to the CIA.It should not be confused with
AirAsia , aMalaysia -based low cost airline.History
Air Asia was created out of
Civil Air Transport (CAT) in1955 as Air America's aircraft service unit.In
1949 , CAT, in order to prepare for the ROC government's evacuation from the mainland, bought two ships to house all aircraft maintenance equipment and parts to evacuate to Taiwan. From1949 to1962 , these two ships were docked inKaohsiung , and the aircraft to be serviced have to land at Tainan Airport, its parts of concern dismounted, transferred to the two ships for repair, and then brought back to the airport to remount it on the aircraft. It was only until1962 when it its current location was opened and aircraft can be serviced directly at the airport.Despite such inconvenience, its relationship with the
United States have made it largest air service center in the east Asia, servicing allUnited States Air Force aircraft deployed in East Asia, and, needless to say, allcovert operation aircraft fromPacific Corporation companies. It has serviced more than 12,000 USAF aircraft and retrofitted 8,000 aircraft engines during this period. At the peak of its existence, it operated another service facility at Tachikawa, Japan.In February
1975 , it was sold toE-Systems , and in 1987 transferred toPrecision Airmotive . Taiwan Aerospace Corporation (TAC) acquired Air Asia in 1994.External links
* [http://www.airasia.com.tw Air Asia Website]
* [http://taiwanmilitary.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=32714&sid=821d72a3c19adb55785aa01a944351ce Air Asia, CIA former front company]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.