TransAsia Airways

Infobox_Airline
airline=TransAsia Airways (復興航空)
logo=TransAsiaAirwaysLogo.pnglogo_size=150px
IATA=GE
ICAO=TNA
callsign=TransAsia
parent=Traser
founded=1951
key_people=
headquarters=Taipei, Republic of China
hubs=Taipei Songshan Airport
focus_cities=
frequent_flyer=
lounge=
alliance=
fleet_size=17 (+1 order)
destinations=11
website=http://www.tna.com.tw

TransAsia Airways (復興航空) is an airline based in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. It mainly serves the domestic market but also has limited scheduled international services to Macau and South Korea and charter services to some holiday destinations.

Name

The name of the airline in Chinese, 復興航空, literally means "the airline of the restoration of glory". It was named for the desire and determination of the Nationalist to return to and recover mainland China after retreating to Taiwan and losing the mainland to the Communist.

History

TransAsia was formed in 1951 as one of the first private civil airline in Taiwan, flying the Taipei - Hualien - Taitung - Kaohsiung route. It also served as local agent of foreign airlines and provided airport ground handling services for foreign airlines.

Air services ceased in 1958 when the management of the airline decided to concentrate their attention on their agency businesses. It established its airline meal catering services in the same year.

Domestic flights were resumed in 1988, after an absence in the market for 30 years. In 1991, first ATR72 aircraft joined the airline. In 1992, unscheduled charter services to international destinations, including Laoag, Manila, Cebu, Phnom Penh, Surabaya, Yangon, Phuket, Danang and Manado started. The Airbus A320 joined the fleet, becoming the first jet in the airline.

First scheduled international services started in 1995 to Macau and Surabaya.

Operations

Besides flight operations, TransAsia Airways operate as a local agent in Taiwan for some foreign airlines. It also has an airport ground handling services branch, airline meal catering branch at Taipei and Kaohsiung and an aircraft maintenance and engineering branch.

Destinations

Domestic

From Taipei (Songshan Airport):
* Hualien
* Makung
* Kinmen

Original destinations Hengchun, Pingtung, Tainan, Kaohsiung were dropped in 2007 and 2008 after the inauguration of Taiwan High Speed Rail.

International

From Taipei (Taoyuan International Airport):
* Busan
* Jeju
* Macau (also served from Kaohsiung)
* Muan

Charter

* Guangzhou
* Kota Kinabalu
* Phuket
* Seoul (Incheon Airport)
* Shanghai (Pudong Airport)
* Singapore
* Xiamen
* Yangyang
* Vladivostok

Fleet

The TransAsia Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of July 2007) [Flight International, 3-9 July 2007] :

*2 Airbus A320-231
*5 Airbus A321-131
*1 ATR 72-200
*8 ATR 72-500 (plus 1 on order)

TransAsia Airways average fleet age is 9.33 years old in June 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.tna.com.tw/ TransAsia Airways]