In September 1932, the Manchuria Aviation Company/滿洲航空株式會社/Manshū Kōkū Kabushiki-gaisha was founded under the protective guidance of the Kwantung Army. The new company began regular operations that November.Major shareholders were the Manchukuo government, the South Manchurian Railway Company and the Sumitomo zaibatsu. Initial routes included one that flew from Sinuiju to Mukden (present-day Shenyang), Hsinking (Changchun), Harbin, and on to Tsitsihar (Qiqihar). By connecting with a JAT flight at Sinuiju, a passenger traveling from the Japanese mainland could get to Manchuria the following day. In October 1935, JAT began service on a Fukuoka-Naha-Taipei route, allowing someone who departed Fukuoka on a given morning to reach Taipei later that same day.
Manchuria Aviation Company Logo.
From the beginning, the Manchuria Aviation Company was a paramilitary airline, whose primary purpose was to provide transport and logistical support for the military, and for the transport of mail. Civilian passengers were carried and charter operations undertaken on a lower priority. In 1936, an "Independent Volunteer Battalion" of the Manchuria Aviation Company consisting of 13 aircraft fought on the side of the Inner Mongolian Army against Kuomintang-held Suiyuan.
The airline had a "hub" in Hsinking and was linked by regular flight routes from Harbin, Shamussi (Kiamusze), Kirin, Mukden, Antung, Chinchow, Chengde, Tsitsihar, Hailar, and the Kwantung Leased Territory and Korea areas, for connections with Imperial Japanese Airways (Dai Nippon Koku KK) to Japan itself or foreign routes. A long distance route between Hsinking and Berlin was also pioneered in 1938.
The Manchuria Aviation Company ceased operations in August 1945 during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. However, wartime fuel and equipment shortages had previously curtailed its operations considerably. Remaining aircraft, goods and equipment were confiscated, to the benefit of the Soviet Union and Chinese Communist Party, after the conflict.
Embroidered hat badge.
The airline had a "hub" in Hsinking and was linked by regular flight routes from Harbin, Shamussi (Kiamusze), Kirin, Mukden, Antung, Chinchow, Chengde, Tsitsihar, Hailar, and the Kwantung Leased Territory and Korea areas, for connections with Imperial Japanese Airways (Dai Nippon Koku KK) to Japan itself or foreign routes. A long distance route between Hsinking and Berlin was also pioneered in 1938.
The Manchuria Aviation Company ceased operations in August 1945 during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. However, wartime fuel and equipment shortages had previously curtailed its operations considerably. Remaining aircraft, goods and equipment were confiscated, to the benefit of the Soviet Union and Chinese Communist Party, after the conflict.
Embroidered hat badge.
軍政部被服廠附業部製 -Made by the Army Administration Department Clothing Factory Branch (Mukden)
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