British Asia Airways

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]

British Asia Airways
IATA ICAO Callsign
BR BAW SPEEDBIRD
FoundedMarch 1993
Ceased operationsDecember 2001
Operating bases
  • London
  • Taiwan-Taoyuan
Destinations3
HeadquartersTaipei, Taiwan
British Asia Airways Boeing 747-400 in Landor livery variant at Narita International Airport in the 1990s

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. Robert Storey (1998). Taiwan. Lonely Planet. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-86442-634-5.
  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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