Far Eastern Air Transport
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| Founded | 5 June 1957 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Taipei Songshan Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Destinations | 16 (scheduled) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Taipei, Taiwan | ||||||
| Key people | 張綱維 (pinyin: Zhāng Gāngwéi; Chairperson and Majority Owner) | ||||||
| Website | http://www.fat.com.tw/ | ||||||
FAT Taiwan Inc. (traditional Chinese: 遠東航空股份有限公司; simplified Chinese: 远东航空股份有限公司; pinyin: Yuǎndōng Hángkōng Gǔfènyǒuxiàngōngsī), doing business as Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT, traditional Chinese: 遠東航空; simplified Chinese: 远东航空; pinyin: Yuǎndōng Hángkōng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Oán-tong Háng-khong), is an airline with its head office in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China).[1]
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 chain of financial crises broke out in early 2008, the airline publicly announced its bankruptcy and stopped all flights on and beyond 13 May 2008. The airline restarted its services on April 18, 2011.[3] The airline emerged from bankruptcy restructuring on October 16, 2015.
History
The airline was established in 1957 and started operations in November 1957. It originally focused on charter flights until the introduction of scheduled services in January 1965. For the next 30 years this carrier was the No. 1 brand in 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. The airline had 1,220 employees (at March 2007).[2] Beginning in 2004, FAT invested in the Cambodian airline, Angkor Airways. Angkor Airways subsequently shut down flight operations on May 9, 2009. The chairman, Alex Lou(樓文豪) was put into custody by Cambodian police on May 9, 2009 for his alleged breach of trust.[4]
Due to the ever-rising fuel prices and Taiwan High Speed Rail's inauguration, the airline suffered financial losses since early 2007 and the situation was seriously worsened by poor financial management and risky investments. On 13 February 2008 FAT failed to pay the USD 848,000 it owed to the International Clearing House, a financial subsidiary of 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 November 27, 2010, an MD-83 (aircraft registration number: B-28025) of FAT began flight test at Taipei Songshan Airport at 10am. The plane successfully landed and returned to the airport at 12:20pm. The aviation authority in Taiwan granted a test flight license to FAT but required an additional test flight and $50 million New Taiwan Dollar as deposit before the re-granting an airline operating license.[6] The airline restarted its services on April 18, 2011.
Destinations
Far Eastern Air Transport currently operates the following services
| Hub | |
| Charter | |
| Future destinations | |
| Terminated destinations |
Fleet
The Far Eastern Air Transport fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of October 2016):[17]
| Fleet | In Service | Orders | C | Y | Total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | ||||||
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 |
Far Eastern Air Transport reached a deal to lease two 737-800s, one new and one used, from Air Lease Corporation in 2015,[18][19] but contract dispute over the condition of the used aircraft prevented both from entering service.[20]
Previously operated
- Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor
- Boeing 737-100
- Boeing 737-200
- Boeing 757-200 - two aircraft, B-27013 and B-27015, are stored at the former Taoyuan Naval Air Base, which is adjacent to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
- Douglas C-47
- Douglas DC-6B
- Handley Page Herald
- Sud Aviation Caravelle
- Vickers Viscount
Incidents and accidents
- On 15 February 1969, Douglas C-47B B-241 was damaged beyond economic repair in an accident at Kaohsiung International Airport, Taiwan.[21]
- 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.[22]
- On 24 April 1969, Douglas C-47A B-251 was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Phan Thiết Airport, Vietnam. All 31 passengers and crew survived.[23]
- 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.[24]
- 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.[25]
- 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.[26]
- On 16 April 1977, Douglas C-47A B-247 was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Tainan Airport.[27]
- On 26 August 1980, Bouraq Indonesia Airlines Vickers Viscount PK-IVS suffered an in-flight failure of the starboard elevator and crashed 26 kilometres (16 mi) north east of Jakarta, Indonesia killing all 37 people on board. The Viscount was leased from FAT[28]
- 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.[29]
- On 13 April 2013, Far Eastern Air Transport departing from Kinmen Airport had to return after 12 minutes flight due to engine malfunctioning. The investigation is still ongoing, but it is suspected that it was due to bird strike.[30]
See also
References
- ^ 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)
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 81.
- ^ Shan, Shelley (19 April 2011). "Far Eastern flies again after a two-year hiatus". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
- ^ http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2008/new/may/1/today-life1-2.htm
- ^ [1]
- ^ 遠航試飛成功 預定農曆年復航 (in Chinese). 2010-11-28. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^ "FAT Resumes Taipei – Cebu Charter Service from October 2013". airlineroute. 2013-08-18. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ a b c "Far Eastern Air Files Preliminary Taiwan – Japan Operations from July 2016". airlineroute. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ^ a b c "Far Eastern Air Transport Adds New China Routes in May 2014". airlineroute. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ "海口—高雄航線複航". China Times. 2014-06-27. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c d e "Far Eastern Air Transport May 2016 Route Timetable". Far Eastern Air Transport. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ "Far Eastern Air Transport Adds Taichung – Hohhet Service from late-May 2014". airlineroute. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ "Far Eastern Air Transport files Macau schedule from Dec 2016". Airline Route. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
- ^ "Far Eastern adds Niigata service from Nov 2016". routesonline. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ a b c "Far Eastern Air Transport Launches New Taichung – China Service from mid-April 2014". airlineroute. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ "Far Eastern Air Transport to Start Taipei Song Shan – Tianjin Service from late-January 2014". airlineroute. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ Far Eastern Air Transport Fleet Details and History
- ^ "Air Lease Corporation Announces the Placement of One New Boeing 737-800 with Far Eastern Air Transport". Air Lease Corporation. 2015-07-16.
- ^ "Air Lease Corporation Announces the Placement of One Boeing 737-800 with Far Eastern Air Transport". Air Lease Corporation. December 15, 2015.
- ^ "FAT contract dispute". Central News Agency. The China Post. 2016-07-14.
- ^ "B-241 Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "B-251 Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
- ^ "B-243 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
- ^ "B-247 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
- ^ "AIRLINER THAT CRASHED IN TAIWAN, KILLING 110, HAD PRESSURE SNAGS." The New York Times.
- ^ http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/04/14/2003559575
External links
