MANCHURIAN AIR TRANSPORT COMPANY, LTD. (MANSHU KOKUYUS KABUSHIKI KAISHA-MKKK): Manchuria (19321945). This carrier, also known as Manchuko Airways, MAT, Manko, or MKKK, is established on September 26, 1932 by the Japanese-controlled Manchukuo government and the Sumitomo Railroad syndicate to provide air transport throughout Manchuria and to act as a transport squadron for occupying Imperial Army troops. The airline will be mobilized for military duties at least 10 times in just the next 5 years.
The company is outfitted with the first of 35 Fokker Model 8 Super Universals and 25 de Havilland DH 80A Puss Moths, many of which will be license-built by the airline at Mukden. Commercial operations commence on November 3 over three principal routes: Mukden to Changchun, Harbin to Tsitsihar, and Mukden to Sinuiju, where connections can be had with the Nihon Koku Yuso Kabushiki Kaisha (NKYKK) service to Tokyo.
On February 22, 1933, the Japanese Army, in combat in Manchuria since the previous September, launches a new campaign at Rehe in the western portion of that former Chinese province. MKKK aircraft and crews provide support. MKKK opens several new segments in June, including a stop at Darien and flights from Tsitsihar to Hailar and Manchuli. At the latter two points, passengers, who have flown all the way from Tokyo, can make rail connections to Vladivostok.
The first two license-built Super Universals, relabeled Manko Type 1s, are completed at Mukden on October 2. In November, an MKKK Photographic Division is formed and several Model 8s are modified into camera planes. Two Fokker F-VII/3ms are imported and the fleet at year’s end includes these 2 Dutch-built trimotors, as well as 16 Model 8/Manko Type 1s and 12 DH 80s. As 1933 draws to a close, MKKK initiates new routes from Mukden and Hsinking to Chengte, in Jehol Province.
At the beginning of 1934, the Mitsui Corporation ships a crated Clark GA-43, a rare aircraft built in the U. S. by General Motors, to Tokyo for the Manchurian airline. Reassembled, the new aircraft, renamed the M-701, crashes on its first flight, February 10; it then begins several months of repair.
Hsinking is proclaimed capital of Manchukuo on March 1. Also in March, MKKK flight crews are required to participate in Army Air Force training in gunnery, reconnaissance, and bombing. On May 18, the rebuilt M-701 takes off from Tokyo for a flight to Mukden—and again crashes. This time, the wreck must be written off; MKKK receives a compensatory DH 80A Puss Moth instead.
Operations continue apace in 1935. On April 1, various interchange and pooling agreements are signed with Nihon Koku Yuso Kabushiki Kaisha (NKYKK) . Aircraft from one company many now be flown on routes officially belonging to the other.
The first Nakajima AT-2 test aircraft, a Japanese design based upon the Douglas DC-2, begins flight tests from Mukden on September 12, 1936. To provide the Japanese Army with what is, in fact, a dedicated transport group with a civil face, Huitong Hangkong Gonsi or Huitong Airways, Ltd. (HAL), is established at Tianjin, in north China, on November 7. The new entrant is a MKKK subsidiary, capitalized by both the carrier and the local puppet Chinese government, and begins flying Super Universals on November 17.
During the year, the company appoints its first five female flight attendants. On December 18, a commercial agreement, obtained through the leadership of MKKK executive Saburo Nagabuchi, is signed with the German airline Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G.; the document promises development of a new air route from Tokyo to Berlin via Manchukuo, Mongolia, and Afghanistan. In addition, 10 Junkers Ju-86Z-2 transports will be sold to Manchukuo, which will pay for them with soy beans.
The first indigenously designed company transport, the Manko MT-1, is unveiled in April 1937 and enters service in May. Also in May, five newly acquired AT-2s begin flying from Mukden to Harbin. Nihon Koku Yuso Kabushiki Kaisha (NKYKK) and MKKK inaugurate joint service from the Manchukuo capital of Hsinking to Tokyo on June 1, covering the 2,270- km. route in 10 hours. A new Nakajima LB2, christened Akatsuki (Dawn), makes a 3,000-km. proving flight on June 26 from Hsinking to Urumchi in Sinkiang province.
Aircraft and crews from MKKK are dispatched to the Chinese theater on July 12, five days after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War. Company aircraft bomb a Chinese force at Taiyuan on July 29. In August, another subsidiary, Kokusai Koku Kabushiki Kaish (KKKK) or International Air Lines Co., Ltd., is set up as a wholly owned MKKK subsidiary to participate with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. (DLH) in the inauguration of the mutual service between Tokyo and Berlin. It is given two Nakajima LB2s. Nanjing falls to the Japanese on November 13.
On April 29, 1938, newly organized International Air Lines Co., Ltd. (IALCL) receives two Heinkel He-116s from Germany; the pair arrive at Tokyo from Berlin in a 5-day, 23-hr. 43 min-flight and are christened Nogi and Tokyo. In late spring, the two are sent out to the MKKK fleet base in Manchukuo. The first Ju-86 arrives at Mukden in October; uncrated, it begins proving flights.
Following the retreat of the Nationalist government from Hankow to Chungking in October, MKKK begins service during October into the former point. Also in October, the Japanese government, as the result of intrigues between the military and the Ministry of Posts and Communication (which controls civilian aviation), elects to establish a new flag carrier.
On December 1, the MKKK subsidiary IALCL is merged with Japan Air Transport Company, Ltd. to create Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (1) . The two He-116s are also given to the new Japanese enterprise.
Unable to fulfill the military’s air transport requirements in north China, Huitong Airways, Ltd. (HAL) is now disbanded. It will be succeeded on December 16 by Zhonghua Hangkong Gongsi, which is also known as China Airways Corporation. Together with this new company, which is not an MKKK affiliate, the Manchurian airline satisfies the Army’s need for transport, leaving JAL-1 to concentrate on the exclusive provision of commercial services.
Junkers Ju-86 service begins on January 1, 1939, with an initial flight from Dairen to Chiamussu via Mukden, Hsinking, and Harbin. Scheduled flights commence on February 1 from Hsinking to Peking via Chin-chow and Tientsin.
A significant number of MKKK aircraft (including eight Manko Type 1s and six Ju-86s) and their crews are involved between May 11 and September 5 in assisting the Japanese Army to suppress the Namonhan rebellion in Manchuria. The company undertakes logistic and evacuation missions with the German aircraft, employing detachable bomb racks, flying a number of attack sorties.
On October 1, service is inaugurated from Changchun to Tokyo via Seoul; MKKK becomes the only “foreign” carrier to base an air service in Japan before the outbreak of World War II. As of the end of the year, the company serves a total of 50 destinations.
Operations continue apace in 1940. The only significant event of the year for MKKK is a December 3 nonstop proving flight made in 10 hours by a Heinkel He-116 from Hsinking to Tokyo over Seoul and Fukuoka.
The first of some 20 Mitsubishi MC-20 I transports enters service during the first quarter of 1941. One of these inaugurates a nonstop 4.5-hr. route from Mukden to Tokyo on April 1. The service continues, even after a unit is lost with all 16 persons aboard in a June 21 crash in the Sea of Japan.
During October, as plans are put forward for the initiation of war against the Western powers, MKKK establishes an extra transport group comprising 12 AT-2s and sends it to Saigon in French Indochina to support the Japanese Army. Transport duties in this southern area commence following the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7-8.
In July, 1942, the MKKK unit in southeast Asia is assigned, along with groups from JAL-1 and China Airways Corporation, to the new Southern Air Transport Command (SATC) established at Singapore. MKKK is now at its peak, with 3,000 employees in China and Malaya and 140 aircraft. In addition to the types already noted, the company also flies 3 Junkers Ju-160s, 3 Ju-86s, 35 Manshu Hayabusas, 12 MC-20s and 12 AT-2s, plus several Douglas DC-3s. The principal 13,000-km. network covers destinations in Manchukuo, Japan, China, and Korea.
Flights are now largely unescorted, particularly in the Pacific arena and these become increasingly dangerous after the war turns in favor of the Allies late in 1942. In March 1943, the 12 MC-20s are transferred to Rabaul, New Britain. One ship is sent to Japan for conversion into a photographic reconnaissance aircraft and is reported to have been used for spy flights over the Philippines from December. Much of the company’s fleet in the forward areas is destroyed and by October 1944, the Southern Air Transport Command must begin to curtail its operations due to the loss of aircraft and crews.
Operations cease on August 15, 1945 with Japan’s surrender. In Manchukuo, now under attack from the Soviet Union, a Red Army parachute battalion captures the airfield at Mukden and much of the carrier’s remaining fleet along with the puppet emperor, Pu Yi, who is preparing to board an MC-20 for an exile flight. In September, the few remaining units are passed out to local Chinese and Soviet contingents.
MANDALA AIRLINES: JL Garuda, #76, Jakarta, Pusat, 10620, Indonesia; Phone 62 (21) 420-6646; Fax 62 (21) 424-9494; http:// Www. mandala. co. id; Code RI; Year Founded 1969. Founded at Surabaya and registered at Jakarta in 1969, Mandala is formed primarily to offer scheduled passenger services to destinations in Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi. Equipped with Douglas DC-3s, Chairman/President General Sofjar’s company undertakes revenue flights beginning in February 1970. Initial frequencies are flown from Surabaya and Jakarta to Bali and Lombok.
The fleet is increased in 1971 by the addition of a pair of Vickers Viscount 806s, purchased from CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China), a Hawker Siddeley HS-748, and one Fokker F.27 Friendship. Ujungpandang, Menado, and Ambon join the route network during this year and into 1972.
All flights are pooled with Seulawah Air Services between 1971 and 1975 and the company is known as Seulawah-Mandala Airlines. In 1973, General V. A. M. Santoso succeeds the deceased General Sofjar and the government permits the carrier a share in the Hadj pilgrimage business to Jeddah (a full 1/10th share), which brings in sufficient revenues to begin increasing the fleet.
Fully independent in 1976, Mandala resumes independent regional and pioneer services linking Jakarta with Ambon, Menado, Padang, Surabaya, and Ujung Pandang. Flights continue during the remainder of the decade and the Viscount fleet is changed to comprise four Dash-832s.
By the early 1980s, Chairman/President Santoso’s fleet also comprises four previously owned Lockheed L-188A/C Electras—Rengga Gading, Giung Wanara, Dick Pitaloka, and Rengganis.
A Vickers Viscount 832 with 4 crew and 40 passengers is damaged beyond repair when it runs off the runway after landing at Semarang on May 1, 1981; there are no fatalities. Late in the year, the former Qantas Airways (Pty.), Ltd. L-188C owned by the U. S. travel club Nomads is purchased; christened Jaya Perkasa, it enters service before Christmas.
Between 1982-1984, 10 CASA C-212-200 Aviocars are placed into service. The former Garuda Indonesian Airways L-188C Palau Bali is acquired in 1983 and christened Aryo Bantati.
While on approach to Panang, Malaysia, on November 30, 1985, the L-188C Jaya Perkasa suffers the loss of its right main landing gear; the aircraft is diverted to Medan, Indonesia, where it successfully executes a belly landing. Although all aboard escape injury, the Lockheed catches fire and is burned out.
A Nihon YS-11-100 is purchased from TOA Domestic Airlines Company, Ltd. of Japan on November 12, 1986 for ? 180 million. It is in service by the beginning of 1987.
In 1988, the fleet of 3 DC-3s, 5 Electras, and 5 Viscounts is reduced by 1 Electra, 1 YS-11-100, and 1 Viscount. Enplanements climb 10.7% to 144,246 and freight traffic is up by 47.4% to 1.36 million FTKs.
Traffic figures in 1989 are only available for the first 9 months and show a 2.6% decline in the number of customers flown, to 140,489. Cargo, on the other hand, surges 52.5% to 2.08 million FTKs. Three more Lockheed Electras are withdrawn before the end of the year.
The first CASA-Nurtanio CN-235 is acquired in 1990. Still, passenger boardings fall 11.9% to 163,158 and freight slides 9.8% to 2.63 million FTKs.
Airline employment stands at 500 in 1991 as another Electra is withdrawn. Through June, the company reports that its customer bookings are down 29% to 64,065 and cargo is off 26.8% to 1.01 million FTKs.
The fleet in 1992 includes 1 L-188A, 1 YS-11-100,4 L-188Cs, and 1 each Viscount 816 and Viscount 832.
While on initial approach to Ambon on July 24 in a heavy storm, a Viscount 816 with 7 crew and 63 passengers crashes into Lalaboy Mountain; there are no survivors.
Through the first 9 months for which statistics are provided, bookings are up 36% to 132,806 and cargo reaches up 12.8% to 1.58 million FTKs.
In 1993, Chairman/President Santoso oversees a workforce still totaling 500 and a fleet significantly increased by the addition of one each
Boeing 737-2E7A and B-737-210A. At this point, the phase-out of the propeller equipment accelerates.
Figures are again provided through September and reveal that passenger boardings have risen by 2.9% to 136,666 and freight is up 31.1% to 2.07 million FTKs.
There is no change in the employee population during 1994; however, the last propeller airliner, an Electra, is retired as one each B-737-2L9A, B-737-230A, and B-737-291A enter service. From the Jakarta hub, the company offers daily direct flights to Medan, Padang, Palembang, Se-marang, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya and indirect services to Ambon, Manado, and Denpaser.
Traffic is again reported through September and shows customer bookings up a spectacular 108.5% to 284,948 while cargo swells 93% to 3.99 million FTKs.
Company management in early 1995 unveils a blueprint for improvement. The plan includes internal consolidation, a new corporate identity, introduction of business-class services, and fleet standardization.
Enplanements total 332,413. Revenue figures are not released, but are estimated at approximately $67 million.
The leased fleet grows in 1996 through the addition of a B-737-2V5A and a second B-737-230A. Destinations visited include Ambon, Bengkulu, Denpasar Bali, Jakarta, Jambi, Manado, Medan, Padang, Palembang, Pangkalpinang, Pontianak, Semarang, Surabaya, Ujung Pandang, and Yoyakarta.
Passenger boardings soar 18.6% to 408,369 and 5.93 million FTKs are operated, a 36.9% increase.
Flights continue in 1997, although in the months after July as the currency and economic crisis worsens, the company loses traffic, lays off employees, and withdraws aircraft. Indonesia and Indonesian aviation policy are in flux during the spring of 1998; President Suharto resigns on May 21 in the face of intense opposition.
In May, with the rupiah now valued at 17,000 to the U. S. dollar, the nation’s airlines are granted permission to increase fares by 37.5%.
By the beginning of August, a cost-cutting plan that would have combined the domestic operations of Garuda, Bouraq, Merpati, and Mandala collapses; despite load factors as low as 30%, the smaller airlines refuse to join with the flag carrier.
The effects of the Asian currency crisis and the national economic downturn continue; at this point, the four companies are losing significant funds as 80% of their costs are in U. S. dollars, but only 20% of their income is in the same currency.
During the last week of August, the Indonesian Parliament does grant a long-desired fare increase. Domestic tickets increase in price by 40% on September 1; they rise again another 14% on December 1.
Flights continue in 1999. During the first six months of the year, the rupiah regains some 50% of its strength. The balance of the parliamentary-approved fare increase is postponed.
Customer bookings for the year total 747,000, while 19.69 million FTKs are operated.
Two B-737-2T4As previously operated by MALEV Hungarian Airlines are leased from GECAS on August 1,2000, for a four-year period. In December, an A330B4F is wet-leased from MNG Cargo Airlines, A. O.
MANDARIN AIRLINES, LTD.: 13-14th Floor, 124 Minsheng East Road, Section 3, Taipei, Taiwan; Phone 886 (2) 717-1188; Fax 886 (2) 717-0716; Http://www. mandarin-airlines. com; Code AE; Year Founded 1991. The nation’s second privately owned and third international airline, MAL is formed in June 1991 specifically to fly to Australia, Canada, and other countries with which Taiwan no longer has diplomatic relations. Initial ownership is held by China Airlines, Ltd. (CAL) (66%) and Kuo’s Development Corporation (33%); former CAA Director General Teh Ming Liu is appointed chairman. Employing a fleet of three Boeing 747SP-09s leased from its airline parent, the company inaugurates services in August to Ho Chi Minh City. The Hanoi government, fearful of offending the People’s Republic of China, orders the flights halted in September.
Beginning in October, the new entrant initiates a B-747SP-09 link Taipei with Auckland, Brisbane, and Sydney. On December 7, in cooperation with Canadian Airlines International, Ltd., the first direct service between Taiwan and Canada in 40 years is inaugurated— four-times-per-week, code-shared Taipei to Vancouver.
One long-range Jumbojet is retired in 1992 as orders are now placed for a B-747-400. A code-sharing agreement is reached with Air New Zealand, Ltd. in May covering ANZ services from Los Angeles to Frankfurt.
The 184-employee carrier becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of CAL in December.
Enplanements total 62,945 while freight climbs 20.8% to 15.74 million FTKs. Revenues are $35.4 million, but costs are more and cause losses: $15.97 million (operating) and $8.36 million (net).
The workforce is increased by 12% in 1993 to 206 and the fleet now includes 3 B-747SP-09s and 1 new McDonnell Douglas MD-11, all leased from the company’s parent. In January, China Airlines, Ltd. President Peter Bien becomes the new chairman, succeeding Teh Ming Liu, who becomes CAL chairman. A long-range Jumbojet inaugurates twice-weekly services in July from Taipei to Frankfurt via Bangkok.
Passenger boardings for the year increase 50.5% to 93,788 while cargo grows 40.9% to 22.2 million FTKs. Revenues swell 32.6% to $47.11 million while expenses decline by 1.5%, but still total $50.76 million. The operating loss improves to $3.64 million and a net $7.15 million profit is earned.
The number of employees is reduced by 5.8% in 1994 to 244 and an order is placed for 1 new B-747-409 as 3 more leased MD-11s are placed into service.
Customer bookings jump 20.5% to 120,966 while freight rises 43.9% to 28.16 million FTKs. Revenues rise 10.1% to $54.2 million, but expenses climb 16.2% and force an operating loss of $6 million. The net profit of $1.96 million is reported.
The workforce grows by 14.8% in 1995 to 280. The new B-747-409, the first to be directly owned by this company, is received during the first week of July and enters service on routes from Taipei to Vancouver and Sydney. It helps the airline to enjoy another good year.
Passenger boardings swell 31.8% to 159,412 and cargo climbs 32.6% to 35.7 million FTKs. Revenues bounce upward by a third, rising 33.4% to $72.25 million. Expenses are up 22.9% to $74.02 million, but still, the operating loss is cut to $1.76 million. Net gain dips to $1.65 million.
Airline employment stands at 300 in 1996-1997 and the fleet now includes the B-747-409, 1 B-747SP-09, and 4 MD-11s. Frequencies from Taipei to Auckland, Sydney, and Vancouver continue.
On October 26 of the latter year, the company and Air Canada, Ltd. begin to sell tickets on each other’s flights between Vancouver and Taipei and from Taipei to Vancouver. Signed in mid-September, the new code-sharing pact covers nine weekly flights.
In mid-1998, CAL announces that, during the following summer, Formosa Airlines Corporation, Ltd. will be combined with Mandarin Airlines, Ltd., with the latter name surviving. The reformed company will emphasize domestic service, with CAL operating all international flights. Flying only international services, Mandarin generates a profit of $1.9 million on revenues of $72 million.
The merger with Formosa Airlines Corporation, Ltd. occurs on August 8, 1999. Losing its identity, Formosa turns over its domestic routes to Mandarin along with its fleet of 7 Fokker 50s, 3 Dornier 228-200s, 2 SAAB 340s, and 2 Fokker 100s. Plans are announced for a capacity upgrade with six Boeing Next Generation 737-809s, which will be leased from China Airlines, Ltd. (CAL).
The new aircraft begin to arrive in late fall and allow expansion of domestic services and withdrawal of the Fokker 100s. In November, the company trades its Vancouver, Sydney, and Brisbane routes to CAL for several regional frequencies and its Taipei-Kao-hsiung route. At this point, roundtrips between Taipei and Kao-hsiung are increased to 87 every week, while 3 weekly return services are introduced between Taipei and Yanggong.
Wearing a mandarin “gyrafalcon” design, the first of four B-737-809s are delivered by China Airlines, Ltd. in the spring of 2000.
Twice-weekly roundtrip service is introduced on May 1 from Taipei to Saipan. The previously operated twice-weekly Mandarin MD-11 route from Taipei to Sydney is replaced on July 4 by a new China Airlines, Ltd. (CAL) thrice-weekly MD-11 service.
World History
