| |||||||
Founded | 20 January 1993 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Commenced operations | 29 March 1993 | ||||||
Ceased operations | 4 March 2002 (re-integrated into British Airways) | ||||||
Focus cities | |||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Executive Club | ||||||
Alliance | Oneworld (affiliate; 1999–2001) | ||||||
Fleet size | 3 | ||||||
Parent company | British Airways | ||||||
Headquarters | Taipei, Taiwan |
British Asia Airways Limited was a subsidiary of British Airways founded due to the legal status of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and territory disputes with the People's Republic of China in order to allow British Airways to continue flying to Taiwan from the United Kingdom. [1]
Due to political sensitivities, national airlines operating flights to the People's Republic of China were not permitted to fly to Taiwan. [2] Similar arrangements were made by other airlines, such as Japan Airlines, KLM, Qantas. [3] , Swissair and Air France. Lufthansa provided service to Taipei under the name of its former subsidiary, Condor.
It used the Boeing 747-400 repainted in a special livery, with the Union Flag tailfin being replaced by the Chinese characters 英亞 (Hanyu Pinyin: Yīng Yà; literally "British Asia"). [4] The airline flew between Taipei and Hong Kong using the code BR, which BA had inherited from British Caledonian, while the flight from London used BA. [5]
The airline ceased operations after British Airways ceased flights to Taipei in December 2001. [6]
British Asia Airways used to serve the following destinations:
During its eight-year existence, British Asia Airways operated the following aircraft: [7]
Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F | C | Y | Total | |||||
Boeing 747-400 | 5 | — | 14 | 55 | 332 | 401 | 3 aircraft wore the World Tails. Returned to British Airways. | |
Total | 5 | — |
Airlines created for political reasons:
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Media related to British Asia Airways at Wikimedia Commons