Far_Eastern_Air_Transport

Far Eastern Air Transport(遠東航空) (FAT) is a defunct airline based in Taipei, Taiwan. 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.^[1] 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, ending its 51-year history.

History

The airline was established in 1957 and started operations in November 1957. It was the first privately owned airline in Taiwan. 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)^[1].

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. FEAT had stopped paying employee salaries but the staff were still on duty as of May 2008 because they wanted to try and save the company but some were saying they could not hold on much longer.^[2]

Destinations

Boeing 757-27A "B-27013" from Far Eastern Air Transport in Kaohsiung in October 2006

Far Eastern Air Transport operated the following services (at January 2005):^{[citation needed]}

• Domestic scheduled destinations: Hualien, Kaohsiung, Kinmen, Makung, Tainan, Taipei and Taitung.

• International scheduled destinations:
  • Taipei-Jeju
  • Taipei-Koror
  • Taipei-Kota Kinabalu
  • Kaohsiung-Laoag
  • Kaohsiung-Seoul
  • Kaohsiung-Jeju
  • Kaohsiung-Bali
  • Kaohsiung-Hanoi

Incidents and accidents

• 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. ^[3]

Fleet

The Far Eastern Air Transport fleet included the following aircraft (at April 2008):

• 5 Boeing 757-200 (one aircraft is leased to Angkor Airways)
• 1 Boeing 757-200PF (one for Toyota Camry livery)
• 5 McDonnell Douglas MD-82
• 5 McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (one aircraft is leased to Angkor Airways)

External links

• Far Eastern Air Transport
• Far Eastern Air Transport Fleet

References