Former Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) director-general Billy Chang yesterday said that he and his team are interested in acquiring TransAsia Airways Corp, but refused to say where they would get the money.

The airline on Tuesday last week announced that it would be dissolved due to persistent financial losses and consequently suspended all of its flights.

The Executive Yuan on Wednesday last week announced that China Airlines would take over TransAsia's domestic routes tomorrow to ensure that the flights would continue.

The CAA on Thursday last week notified TransAsia that the airline's right to operate its cross-strait flights would be withdrawn if it failed to address the problems preventing it from providing services by yesterday.

"TransAsia Airways has encountered difficulties. The government is being criticized for its handling of the incident and the airline's workers are to lose their jobs. Although other airlines have offered to lend a helping hand, none of them is willing to completely take over TransAsia's operations because of an industry slump. I am here today to represent our team and announce that we are interested in taking over TransAsia. We hope the move will help solve the problems facing the government, TransAsia and its workers, as well as society at large," Chang told a news conference in Taipei.

Asked about the CAA's deadline, Chang said he hoped it would delay making a final decision on the cross-strait flights.

"We would not be interested in acquiring the airline should the CAA take back the cross-strait flights. Why would I buy something that I cannot do business with?" Chang said, adding that he was due to meet with TransAsia chairman Vincent Lin after the news conference.

Asked to disclose the details of the team he was representing, Chang said work on a deal only commenced yesterday.

"I cannot reveal any information about my team, it is confidential. The deal would be off if I tell you anything about my team," he said.

Chang said that he would notify the media if there was any significant progress on the negotiations.

CAA statistics show that most of TransAsia's profit came from its cross-strait flights, particularly those to Shanghai. Prior to the suspension of services last week, the company flew from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Meanwhile, TransAsia said that it had submitted its response to the CAA yesterday afternoon.

"The company's board made a decision on Tuesday last week to dissolve the company's business, but the decision still needs to be discussed at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in January. We will respect the decision made by the shareholders," TransAsia spokesman Liu Chung-chi said.

The company is in the process of organizing severance payments for its employees, and refunding customers and travel agencies, he said,

Liu confirmed that Chang met with the company's management team, but he was reluctant to comment further.

"We are a publicly traded firm and any major announcement has to be made on the open market," he said.

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