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FAT plans to open routes to outlying islands, China

The Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (FAT, 遠東航空) is planning to launch flights to Shenyang, Chongqing, Kinmen and Makung once aircraft and personnel pass Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) safety certification.

The Taipei District Court dismissed the executors and the supervisor of the FAT corporate restructuring team on Tuesday and replaced them with representatives from banks that loaned money to the financially troubled airline.

The banks said that the previous management had not been able to specify when and how necessary funding would come, nor was it able to submit a concrete financial restructuring plan.

The value of FAT would fall should they continue to serve, they added.

NEW CHIEF REP

The banks appointed former People First Party (PFP) legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) as their chief representative. Liu served on the Transportation Committee when he was a legislator.

“We estimate that the company probably needs NT$200 million [US$6 million] to NT$300 million to restart,” Liu said.

Airline management yesterday met the banks to negotiate a deal to start paying its employees again. Meanwhile, the airline is applying for CAA certification for four of its aircraft that have been grounded since the CAA suspended the airline’s operations last year.

Aviation regulations stipulate that the CAA ensure the aircraft are safe to fly.

Debt-ridden FAT filed for bankruptcy protection with the Taipei District Court in February of last year. After it failed to seek injections of capital from either new investors or major stock holders to ride out of financial crisis, FAT announced in May last year it would shut down its operations to stem losses and in June last year saw its rights to operate international air routes frozen by the CAA for six months.

“If everything goes as planned, we might have them ready for flights in October,” Liu said.

FAMILIAR PLACES

Jeacy Lee (李志熙), vice president customer service at FAT, said yesterday that the company did not have much choice in routes and had to stick with familiar destinations for the time being. Lee also said there was strong demand for flights to Kinmen and Makung.
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