TransAsia Airways

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TransAsia Airways (復興航空)
IATA
GE		 ICAO
TNA		 Callsign
TransAsia
Founded 1951
Hubs Taipei Songshan Airport
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport
Fleet size 16 (+14 order)
Destinations 33
Parent company Goldsun Construction & Development
Headquarters Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan)
Website http://www.tna.com.tw

TransAsia Airways (TNA, 復興航空 Fùxīng Hángkōng) is an airline based in Datong District, Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan).[1][2][3] It mainly serves the domestic market but also has limited scheduled and charter international services to China, East Asia, and Southeast Asia destinations.

Contents

[edit] 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 China after retreating to Taiwan and losing the mainland to the Communist.

[edit] History

TransAsia was formed in 1951 as 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. In early 2012, the airline was reported to be considering an order for Airbus A380 aircraft to facilitate expansion to the United States.[4]

[edit] Operations

Besides flight operations, TransAsia Airways operate as a local agent in Taiwan for some foreign airlines, such as Thai Airways International.[3] It also has an airport ground handling services branch, airline meal catering branch at Taipei and Kaohsiung and an aircraft maintenance and engineering branch.

[edit] Destinations

TransAsia Airways operate the following scheduled and charter services:

ATR-72 from TransAsia Airways taking off from Kaohsiung
Former destinations

Asia

  • Cambodia - Phnom Penh
  • Indonesia - Manado, Surabaya
  • Malaysia - Kota Kinabalu
  • Myanmar - Yangon
  • Philippines - Cebu, Laoag, Manila

[edit] Fleet

Airbus A321 aircraft of TransAsia

The TransAsia Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of Oct 2011):

TransAsia Airways Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Order Seats[6]
Business Economy Total
Airbus A320-232 3 1(Mar. 2012) 12 138 150
Airbus A321-131 5 - 12 170 182
Airbus A321-200 - 6 12 170 182
Airbus A321neo - 6 TBA
Airbus A330-300 - 2 TBA
ATR 72-500 9 - - 72 72
Total 17 15

TransAsia Airways average fleet age is 11.7 years old in Aug 2010. On November 16, 2010, the airline ordered 6 A321's and 2 A330-300's. The aircraft will be used primarily on direct services between Taiwan and China, as well as on new regional routes. [7]

[edit] Accidents and Incidents

  • TransAsia Airways cargo flight 791, an ATR 72-200, crashed due to icing on December 21, 2002 during flight from Taipei to Macau. Both crew members were killed. The plane encountered severe icing conditions beyond the icing certification envelope of the aircraft and crashed into sea 17 km southwest of Makung city. The Aviation Safety Council of Taiwan investigation found that the crash was caused by ice accumulation around the plane's major components, resulting in the aircraft's loss of control. The investigation identified that flight crew did not respond to the severe icing conditions with the appropriate alert situation awareness and did not take the necessary actions.[8]
  • TransAsia Airways flight 543, an Airbus A321 (B-22603) on a flight from Taipei Songshan Airport to Tainan Airport on March 21 2003. The A321 landing on runway 36R collided with a truck which trespassed the runway without noticing the incoming plane. None of the 175 passengers and crew were killed or injured but the two people inside the truck was injured in the collision. The aircraft was damaged severely in the accident and was written off.

[9][10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "foot_01.gif." TransAsia Airways. Retrieved on January 7, 2011. "Address: 9F, No. 139, Cheng-Chou Rd., Taipei 103, R.O.C"
  2. ^ "09-guestbook.aspx." TransAsia Airways. Retrieved on January 7, 2011. "地址：台北市大同區103鄭州路139號9樓"
  3. ^ "foot_01.gif." TransAsia Airways. Retrieved on January 7, 2011. "台北市鄭州路139號9樓"
  4. ^ Cantle, Katie (6 January 2012). "Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways mulls A380 order". Air Transport World. http://atwonline.com/aircraft-engines-components/news/taiwan-s-transasia-airways-mulls-a380-order-0106. Retrieved 6 January 2012. 
  5. ^ http://www.baodanang.vn/channel/5405/201010/Them-3-duong-bay-quoc-te-moi-den-da-Nang-2008233/
  6. ^ TNA official fleet page
  7. ^ TransAsia Airways orders two A330s and six A321s
  8. ^ Aviation Safety Council-Occurrence Investigations
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ [2]

An empty positioning ATR-72 crashed in 1995 as well.

[edit] External links

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