Hong Kong Airways was a flag carrier of

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

during the late 1940s and 1950s.

Context of launch

In 1946 Jardine Air Maintenance Company (JAMCo) had been formed to serve the rapidly expanding portfolio of airlines serving Hong Kong and Jardine Airways was formed as the general sales agent in Hong Kong and China of BOAC and other carriers. HKA was formed in 1947, by BOAC and Jardine, Matheson & Co.(怡和). Jardines wanted to develop a Hong Kong carrier with the support of a British government backed enterprise. BOAC wanted to create a feeder carrier to transport passengers from their London to Hong Kong service to onward destinations in China and the Far East. Additionally the government in London wanted to develop a new market for British manufactured aircraft. Jardines were general sales agents of HKA and became owners before selling to government backed partner BOAC.

Jardine/BOAC and Swire/Cathay Pacific battle for Hong Kong Aviation franchise

In May 1949 an agreement was signed by Cathay Pacific ( Jock Swire) and BOAC (on behalf of Hong Kong Airways) along Governor

Alexander Grantham Sir Alexander William George Herder Grantham, GCMG (; 15 March 1899 – 4 October 1978) was a British colonial administrator who governed Hong Kong and Fiji. Early life, colonial administration career Grantham was born on 15 March 1899 ...

's lines of route allocation to each party. Cathay secured the valuable routes to and from Bangkok, Singapore, Haiphong, Saigon, Sandakan, Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) and Labuan, and Rangoon (with an extension possible to Calcutta). That left HKA with Canton, Macao, Shanghai and Tientsin, not, after all, Japan. On 1 December 1949 BOAC sold Hong Kong Airways back to Jardines, but it soon ran for cover to another 'big brother', in a charter association with the American company Northwest Airlines on the Taipei and Tokyo services. Then in 1953, the British Government attempted to bring about a merger between Cathay Pacific, BOAC and Hong Kong Airways to form a single regional airline. This eventually led to Cathay Pacific taking over Hong Kong Airways on 1 July 1959 with BOAC getting 15 per cent of Cathay Pacific's shares and a seat on the Board.

Legacy

JAMco was merged with

Swire Swire Group () is a Hong Kong- and London-based British conglomerate. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and mainland China. Within Asia, ...

/ Cathay Pacific maintenance interests, to form

HAECO Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) is a leading independent aircraft engineering and maintenance group with its head office located at Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's m ...

, on 1 November 1950. After the merger of JAMCo to form

Jardines did receive a parcel of

shares but this gradually waned. HKA itself merged with Cathay Pacific on 1 July 1959. Jardine Airways remained the exclusive General Sales Agent in Hong Kong for

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...

until the year 2000. Another Jardine affiliate Eupo Air () chartered seats for distribution primarily amongst the Chinese community on British Airways flights on the Hong Kong to London route from 1983 to 2002, a similar partnership to that of HKA and

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

in the 1950s. Today (2013) Jardines (怡和) largest aviation interest in Hong Kong is Jardine Aviation Services a ground handling business, however, Eupo Air still partners British Airways and Jardine Travel provides retail agency service plus corporate travel & expense management. The Swire Group () is still (2013) the principal shareholder in Cathay Pacific.

Dragonair Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (), also known as Cathay Dragon () and Dragonair, was a Hong Kong-based international regional airline, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. In the final year be ...

, now owned by Cathay Pacific as

Cathay Dragon Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (), also known as Cathay Dragon () and Dragonair, was a Hong Kong-based international regional airline, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. In the final year be ...

, is flying some of the routes originally pioneered by HKA. On this basis it can be concluded that the battle for Hong Kong aviation was roundly won by the Swire Group.

Fleet

Hong Kong Airways operated a fleet of aircraft including: * 1 Douglas DC-3 * 1

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1 ...

* 2

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Vi ...

V760D ** VR-HFI leased from BOAC Associated Companies – sold to Malayan Airways in 1959 ** VR-HFJ leased from BOAC Associated Companies – sold to Malayan Airways in 1959

Destinations

* British Hong Kong **

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

–

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...

Main hub * China **

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

– Pai Yuen Airport **

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

–

Shanghai Longhua Airport Shanghai Longhua Airport (上海龙华机场) , then called Shanghai Lunghwa Airport, was a converted general aviation airport and PLAAF airfield located south of downtown Shanghai, China, on the bank of the Huangpu River. It opened in the earl ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

(until 1949) * Taiwan (since 1949) **

Taipei Songshan Airport Taipei Songshan Airport is a regional airport and military airbase located in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. The airport covers an area of . The civilian section of Songshan Airport has scheduled flights to domestic destinations in Taiwa ...

* Japan **

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Haneda Airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yona ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

Naha Airport is a second class airport located west of the city hallAIS Japan
in Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Nichols Field Nichols Field was a U.S. military airfield located south of Manila in Pasay and Parañaque, Metro Manila, Luzon, the Philippines. The complex is located at Andrews Avenue by the north, Domestic Road by the west, NAIA Road and Ninoy Aquino Avenu ...

* South Korea **

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Gimpo International Airport Gimpo International Airport (), commonly known as Gimpo Airport , formerly rendered in English as Kimpo International Airport, is located in the far western end of Seoul, some west of the Central District of Seoul. Gimpo was the main interna ...

Incidents and accidents

* On 11 July 1949, a Hong Kong Airways Douglas DC-3 (VR-HDQ) from Hong Kong to Canton, overran the runway during takeoff and crashed into the water. The aircraft sank after the rescue operations. There were 11 occupants on board the aircraft, three crew and eight passengers, with no fatalities reported.

References

pg 117 of "Beyond Lion Rock" Young, Gavin 1988 pg 236 of "The Thistle & the Jade" Keswick, Maggie Ed. 1982 {{Navbox Airlines of Hong Kong Defunct airlines of Hong Kong Airlines established in 1947 Airlines disestablished in 1959 1947 establishments in Hong Kong Jardine Matheson Group