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Far Eastern Air Transport

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Far Eastern Air Transport
IATA ICAO Callsign
FE FEA FAR EASTERN
Founded5 June 1957
HubsTaipei Songshan Airport
Fleet size9 (February 2017)
Destinations19 (scheduled)
HeadquartersTaipei, Taiwan
Key people張綱維 (pinyin: Zhāng Gāngwéi; Chairperson and Majority Owner)
Websitehttp://www.fat.com.tw/
Far Eastern Air Transport
Traditional Chinese遠東航空
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYuǎndōng hángkōng

FAT Taiwan Inc., doing business as Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT), is an airline with its head office in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China).[1]

FAT headquarters

Established in 1957, it operated domestic services from Taipei and Kaohsiung to five regional cities and international services to Southeast Asia, South Korea and Palau. Its main base was Taipei Songshan Airport.[2] After a succession of financial crises in early 2008, the airline publicly announced its bankruptcy and stopped all flights with effect from 13 May 2008. The airline recommenced operations on 18 April 2011.[3] The airline emerged from bankruptcy restructuring on 16 October 2015.

History

Far Eastern Air Transport Sud Aviation Caravelle in 1972.

The airline was established in 1957 and started operations in November the same year. It originally focused on charter flights until the introduction of scheduled services in January 1965. For the next 30 years the airline was the No. 1 carrier on Taiwanese domestic routes and was granted the right to fly regular international flights in 1996, from Kaohsiung International Airport to Palau and Subic Bay. It started cargo operations in the Asian region in 2004. Beginning in 2004, FAT invested in the Cambodian airline, Angkor Airways. Angkor Airways subsequently shut down flight operations on 9 May 2009.[4]

Due to ever-rising fuel prices and Taiwan High Speed Rail's inauguration, the airline suffered financial losses from early 2007 and the situation was seriously worsened by poor financial management and risky investments. On 13 February 2008 FAT failed to pay USD 848,000 it owed to the International Clearing House, a financial subsidiary of the International Air Transport Association (IATA); and IATA cancelled the airline's membership as a result. Although a local court granted FAT's restructuring application on 23 February 2008, in the next three months it still failed to obtain the necessary funds and the company's bankruptcy protection expired on 22 May. FAT had stopped paying employee salaries but the staff were still on duty as of May 2008 because they wanted to try to save the company but some were saying they could not hold on much longer.[5]

On 27 November 2010, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 of FAT began flight test at Taipei Songshan Airport at 10am, marking the airline's return to the skies. The aviation authority in Taiwan granted a test flight license to FAT but required an additional test flight and fifty million New Taiwan Dollars as deposit before re-granting an airline operating license.[6] The airline restarted its services on 18 April 2011.

Destinations

Far Eastern Air Transport Boeing 757-200 at Kaohsiung, October 2006

Far Eastern Air Transport currently operates the following services:

Country City Airport Notes/Refs
Cambodia Siem Reap Angkor International Airport Charter
China Chengdu Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport
China Hohhot Hohhot Baita International Airport [7]
China Hefei Hefei Xinqiao International Airport [8]
China Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport [9]
China Taiyuan Taiyuan Wusu International Airport [9]
China Tianjin Tianjin Binhai International Airport [10]
China Yichang Yichang Airport [11]
China Zhengzhou Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport [11]
Japan Fukuoka Fukuoka Airport [12]
Japan Kumamoto Kumamoto Airport [12]
Japan Niigata Niigata Airport [13]
Japan Osaka Kansai International Airport [12]
Philippines Cebu Mactan–Cebu International Airport Charter[14]
South Korea Jeju Jeju International Airport Charter
Taiwan Kaohsiung Kaohsiung International Airport [8]
Taiwan Kinmen Kinmen Airport
Taiwan Magong Magong Airport
Taiwan Taichung Taichung International Airport [9]
Taiwan Taipei Taipei Songshan Airport Hub[8]
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport [8]

Fleet

Far Eastern Air Transport MD-82 at Taipei Songshan Airport

As of February 2017, Far Eastern Air Transport operates the following aircraft:[15]

Far Eastern Air Transport fleet
Aircraft In service Future Notes
ATR 72-600 2 2 FAT signed a LOI for the leasing from the company Nordic Aviation Capital.
The first ATR 72-600 will be delivered later in 2017.
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 5 — —
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 3 — —
Total 9 3

Far Eastern Air Transport reached a deal to lease two Boeing 737-800s, one new and one used, from Air Lease Corporation in 2015,[16][17] but a contract dispute over the condition of the used aircraft prevented both from entering service.[18]

Previously operated

Incidents and accidents

  • On 15 February 1969, Douglas DC-3 B-241 was damaged beyond economic repair in an accident at Kaohsiung International Airport, Taiwan.[19]
  • On 24 February 1969, Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 104, a Handley Page Dart Herald, crashed near Tainan City. All 36 passengers and crew on board were killed.[20]
  • On 24 April 1969, Douglas DC-3 B-251 was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Phan Thiết Airport, Vietnam. All 31 passengers and crew survived.[21]
  • On 20 February 1970, Douglas DC-3 B-243 crashed into a mountain shortly after take-off from Taipei Songshan Airport. The aircraft was operating a cargo flight, both crew were killed.[22]
  • On 7 October 1974, a Vickers Viscount was the subject of an attempted hijacking. The hijacker was overpowered and the aircraft landed at its intended destination of Taipei Songshan Airport.[23]
  • On 31 July 1975, Vickers Viscount B-2029 of Far Eastern Air Transport crashed at Taipei Songshan Airport killing 27 of the 75 people on board.[24]
  • On 16 April 1977, Douglas DC-3 B-247 was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Tainan Airport.[25]
  • On 22 August 1981, Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103, a Boeing 737, broke up in flight. Severe corrosion in the fuselage structure led to an explosive decompression and breakup at high altitude. All 110 on board were killed.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ Home page. Far Eastern Air Transport. Retrieved on January 6, 2011. "地址：台北市敦化北路405巷123弄5號 " - Map (Archive)
  2. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 81.
  3. ^ Shan, Shelley (19 April 2011). "Far Eastern flies again after a two-year hiatus". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  4. ^ http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2008/new/may/1/today-life1-2.htm
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ 遠航試飛成功 預定農曆年復航 (in Chinese). 2010-11-28. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-12-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Far Eastern Air Transport Adds Taichung – Hohhet Service from late-May 2014". airlineroute. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d "Far Eastern Air Transport May 2016 Route Timetable". Far Eastern Air Transport. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  9. ^ a b c "Far Eastern Air Transport Launches New Taichung – China Service from mid-April 2014". airlineroute. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Far Eastern Air Transport to Start Taipei Song Shan – Tianjin Service from late-January 2014". airlineroute. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Far Eastern Air Transport Adds New China Routes in May 2014". airlineroute. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  12. ^ a b c "Far Eastern Air Files Preliminary Taiwan – Japan Operations from July 2016". airlineroute. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  13. ^ "Far Eastern adds Niigata service from Nov 2016". routesonline. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  14. ^ "FAT Resumes Taipei – Cebu Charter Service from October 2013". airlineroute. 2013-08-18. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Taiwan's FEAT inks LOI for four ATR72s". ch-aviation. 15 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  16. ^ "Air Lease Corporation Announces the Placement of One New Boeing 737-800 with Far Eastern Air Transport". Air Lease Corporation. 2015-07-16. Archived from the original on 2015-11-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Air Lease Corporation Announces the Placement of One Boeing 737-800 with Far Eastern Air Transport". Air Lease Corporation. December 15, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "FAT contract dispute". Central News Agency. The China Post. 2016-07-14.
  19. ^ "B-241 Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  20. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  21. ^ "B-251 Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  22. ^ "B-243 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  23. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  24. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  25. ^ "B-247 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  26. ^ "AIRLINER THAT CRASHED IN TAIWAN, KILLING 110, HAD PRESSURE SNAGS." The New York Times.
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