China Airlines Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Flights to Tokyo
China Airlines | Mar. 30, 2007
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of its Tokyo route and to show its appreciation to local customers, government offices, and the travel trade, China Airlines recently held a party at the classy Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. A group of flight attendants wore the new CAL uniforms, which introduced on April 1, and the party was co-hosted by China Airlines Chairman Philip Wei and President Ringo Chao. More than 300 guests attended, including Mr. Koh Se-Kai, Representative for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Japan, several Japanese key Congressmen, including former Prime Minister Mori Yoshiro, overseas Taiwanese community representatives, travel agents, cargo agents and reporters.
"China Airlines inaugurated the Tokyo-Osaka-Taipei route on April 1, 1967, with seven weekly flights using a Boeing 727 aircraft, which was only the second international route for CAL," said Chairman Philip Wei, as he addressed the ceremony. "Now, China Airlines flies to 7 destinations in Japan, which include Tokyo, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Okinawa, Osaka and Sapporo, with 74 round trips of passenger flights and 5 freighter flights each week. Furthermore, China Airlines operated 2,090 charter flights to various Japanese tourist destinations in 2006, plus another 746 flights from China Airlines' subsidiary - Mandarin Airlines. In total, we operated 2,836 charter flights last year. Now, China Airlines possesses much larger sales volume than we had 40 years ago. We are also the largest foreign carrier operating in Japan."
President Ringo Chao also addressed the ceremony. "With support from all of you, the Tokyo route has continued to grow, and now, the Tokyo-Taipei route is one of the most important routes in the China Airlines network," he said. "In January, China Airlines inaugurated the VIP lounge in Narita International Airport, providing even better service for our customers."
Currently, China Airlines operates 22 weekly passenger flights on the Taipei-Tokyo route, using B747-400, A340-300 and A330-300 aircraft, and two weekly cargo flights using a B747-400F freighter. It also operates five weekly passenger flights on the Tokyo-Honolulu route, using B747-400 aircraft. In addition to Tokyo, China Airlines offers regular passenger services from Taipei to Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Okinawa and Sapporo, and from Kaohsiung to Nagoya, making it the carrier with the most extensive flight network between Taiwan and Japan.