British Asia Airways

British Asia Airways
IATA ICAO Callsign
BR BAW SPEEDBIRD
Founded March 1993
Ceased operations December 2001
Operating bases
Destinations 3
Headquarters Taipei, Taiwan
British Asia Airways Boeing 747–400 in Landor livery variant at Narita International Airport in the 1990s

British Asia Airways (IATA: BR, ICAO: BAW, Call sign: Speedbird) was a subsidiary of British Airways formed in March 1993, based in Taiwan, to operate between London and Taipei via Hong Kong.[1]

This was due to political sensitivities, as 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 and Qantas.[3]

It used the Boeing 747-436.[4] 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").

It 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]

It ceased operations after BA suspended flights to Taipei in December 2001.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Calder, Simon (23 April 1993). "Special Report on Long-Haul Air Travel: 'Air Asia' goes from strength to strength: Simon Calder looks at the growing success of the Eastern travel industry". The Independent (London).
  2. ↑ "Why Taiwan is still an unique escape". The Independent (London). 16 June 2007.
  3. ↑ Taiwan, Robert Storey, Lonely Planet, 1998, page 166
  4. ↑ "Explore our past: 1990 - 1999". British Airways.
  5. ↑ "Something to declare: A likely story". The Independent (London). 14 September 1996.
  6. ↑ "Explore our past: 2000- Present". British Airways.
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