Air Asia Company Limited () is a provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services headquartered on the island of
Taiwan in the
Republic of China. It is now located in the
Tainan Airport. It is the only surviving member of the
Pacific Corporation, but currently it is owned by
Taiwan Aerospace Corporation and is no longer related to the CIA.
History
Air Asia was created out of
Civil Air Transport (CAT) in 1955 as
Air America's aircraft service unit.
In 1949, CAT, in order to prepare for the ROC government's evacuation from the mainland, bought two ships to house all aircraft maintenance equipment and parts to evacuate to Taiwan. From 1949 to 1962, these two ships were docked in
Kaohsiung, and the aircraft to be serviced have to land at Tainan Airport, its parts of concern dismounted, transferred to the two ships for repair, and then brought back to the airport to remount it on the aircraft. It was only until 1962 when it its current location was opened and aircraft can be serviced directly at the airport.
Despite such inconvenience, its relationship with the
United States has made it the largest air service center in the east Asia, servicing all
United States Air Force aircraft deployed in East Asia, and all
covert operation aircraft from
Pacific Corporation companies. It has serviced more than 12,000 USAF aircraft and retrofitted 8,000 aircraft engines during this period. At the peak of its existence, it operated another service facility at
Tachikawa,...
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