Mandarin Airlines

Mandarin Airlines
華信航空
IATA
AE		 ICAO
MDA		 Callsign
MANDARIN
Founded June 1, 1991
Hubs Taipei Songshan Airport
Taichung Airport
Focus cities Kaohsiung International Airport
Frequent-flyer program Dynasty Flyer
Airport lounge Dynasty Lounge
Alliance SkyTeam (Affiliate)
Fleet size 8
Destinations 34 (including charter flights)
Parent company China Airlines
Headquarters Songshan District, Taipei, Republic of China
Key people Samuel P. Lin
(Chairman)
Website mandarin-airlines.com/english/index.html
China Airlines Minquan Building, which houses the headquarters of Mandarin Airlines

Mandarin Airlines (Chinese: 華信航空; pinyin: Huáxìn Hángkōng) is an airline based in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). The Taiwanese carrier operates domestic and regional international flights, while its parent company focusses on the inter-national/-continental operations. Charter services are also operated by the company. Its other main hub is the Taichung Airport.

History

Mandarin Airlines Embraer 190 at Taipei Songshan Airport

Mandarin Airlines was established on 1 June 1991, and was initially a joint venture by China Airlines (67%) and CTBC Holding (33%); the Chinese name of the company is formed by the combination of the two.[1] The establishment of Mandarin Airlines is closely related to the political status of Taiwan. At the time, Mandarin Airlines' parent company, China Airlines, still served as the flag carrier of the Republic of China, with the flag of the Republic of China a part of its livery. Denying the existence of the Taipei government, the People's Republic of China hence attempted to boycott the international presence of China Airlines, using trade barriers to achieve its political goal. However, PRC's objection did not extend to other Taiwanese carriers not carrying the ROC flag. As a way to work around these limits, Mandarin Airlines was founded while China Airlines maintained its role as the flag carrier.

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 the ROC's first airline to fly direct to Australia and Canada. 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 that of a primary domestic and short-range intra-regional airline,[1] after parent China Airlines was able to re-establish its emphasis on international routes, due to a new livery that did not include the national flag, and thus faced less objection from the PRC.

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.[1] In early 2000, the airline bought 5 Dornier 228 from Uni Air to fly outlying routes. These planes were sold to Daily Air in 2005, a helicopter carrier in Taiwan which had won the bid to fly these money-losing routes.

Mandarin Airlines is owned by China Airlines (93.99%) and has 630 employees (as of March 2007).[2]

Corporate affairs

The headquarters is currently in Songshan District, Taipei.[3]

Previously the headquarters was in a different building in Taipei.[4]

Logo

The airline uses Hai Tung Ching (Chinese: 海東青; pinyin: Hǎidōngqīng), a gyrfalcon from a Chinese legend, as its logo.[5]

Destinations

Mandarin Airlines operates the following services as of November 2012 [6] The mainland Chinese destinations may include scheduled charter service or indirect routing which transit through non-Chinese countries.

Current

 Taiwan

 Mainland China

 Hong Kong

 Japan

 Malaysia

 Philippines

 South Korea

 Vietnam

Former

 Australia

 Canada

 Germany

 Hong Kong

 Macau

 Netherlands

 Thailand

Codeshare agreements

As of November 2012, Mandarin Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

A Mandarin Airlines Fokker 100 preparing to take off in Taipei Songshan Airport.
Fokker F100 from Mandarin Airlines in Taipei (Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport) - 16 October 2006

The Mandarin Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft:

Mandarin Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In fleet Orders Seats Note
C Y Total
ERJ-190 8 2 0 104 104 Leased from GECAS
Boeing 737-800 1 0 8 150 158 Operated on May 20, 2013 and leased from CAL.[8]

Mandarin Airlines announced the lease of 3 Embraer E-190s and 5 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.[9] The first of 8 leased Embraer E-190/195s was delivered to the airline in May 2007, the first to a Taiwanese airline.[10] The Embraer E-190s feature a refreshened livery. On October 27, 2009, Mandarin Airlines retired its last Fokker 100 aircraft (B12291), ending this type's 14-year serving era.[11]

Previously operated aircraft include:

Incidents and accidents

Mandarin Airlines MD-11 (B-151)

On August 17, 2012, Mandarin Airlines Flight 369 experienced a runway excursion during heavy rain due to improper landing and deceleration technique on runway 20 at Magong airport. The ERJ-190 aircraft was intentionally steered off the side of the runway and struck a the base of four concrete runway lights causing the nose gear to collapse. No injuries were reported for the accident.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "About Us." Mandarin Airlines. Retrieved on March 7, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 47.
  3. ↑ "Home." Mandarin Airlines. Retrieved on August 8, 2014. "台北總公司: 10548台北市敦化北路405巷123弄3號 Head Office: No.3, Alley 123, Lane 405 Tunhwa N. Rd., Taipei, 10548 Taiwan"
  4. ↑ "Contact Us." Mandarin Airlines. Retrieved on March 15, 2010. "台北總公司: 105台北市民生東路三段134號13樓."
  5. ↑ "Our business mark and concept of operations." Mandarin Airlines.
  6. ↑ "Our Flight Destinations." Mandarin Airlines.
  7. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2014/12/09/ciae-ceb-jan15/
  8. ↑ "華信航空 6月起迎接B738客機 提升國際線服務". 旅報新聞網. 2013-02-04.
  9. ↑ Mandarin Airlines News
  10. ↑ Air Transport World 15 May 2007
  11. ↑ 華信FK-100機隊 光榮除役
  12. ↑ http://news.aviation-safety.net/2013/09/14/report-long-touchdown-of-erj-190-on-wet-runway-causes-runway-excursion-and-nosegear-collapse/

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mandarin Airlines.