China Airlines at 50

China Airlines (CAL) was founded in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1959, with a fleet of two PBY-5 amphibious aircraft, mostly used for military missions and chartered services. With the help of the Taiwan government, CAL gradually developed its first domestic flights between Taipei and Hualien, and its first international routes between Taipei and Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam. In 1970, CAL started its trans-Pacific flights to San Francisco, California.

As carrier for the Republic of China (Taiwan), CAL had its aircraft painted with the national flags and colors (red-blue-white). In 1993, CAL became a publicly traded company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. In 1995, CAL updated its image by adopting a “plum-blossom” logo instead of Taiwan’s national flag and colors. This made it possible to continue flying to Hong Kong and Macau, both of which were about to return to the People’s Republic of China.

With the global airline recession last year, CAL continued to profit by concentrating on its golden routes between Taipei and Hong Kong. On December 16, CAL celebrated its 50th anniversary with a group of 10,000 employees and a global flight operation network of 87 cities in 27 countries.

The pictures below reflect some of the historical landmarks in CAL’s years of operation.



















CAL pilots and crew seen with aircraft PBY-5 (1959).

















Chiang Ching-kuo, before assuming Taiwan's presidency, with CAL stewardesses (1969).

















Yen Chia-kan, before becoming president of Taiwan, and his wife with CAL stewards and stewardesses (1969).

CAL aircraft painted with the national flag (1967).
















CAL aircraft painted with a plum-blossom logo (2007).
















CAL stewardesses today