Manchuria Aviation Company( traditional Chinese/ Kyūjitai: 滿洲航空株式會社; simplified Chinese: 满州航空株式会社; Shinjitai: 満州航空株式会社; Japanese

Hepburn Hepburn may refer to: Surname People with the surname Hepburn (the most famous in recent times being actresses Katharine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn): * Hepburn (surname) Linguistics * Hepburn romanization, a system for the romanization of Japa ...

: ''Manshū Kōkū Kabushiki-gaisha, "MKKK"'') was the

national airline A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hist ...

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

. Manchuria Aviation Company was established on 26 September 1931 in

Fengtian Fengtian (; postal: Fengtien; Manchu: ''Abkai imiyangga fu'') is: * Shenyang, largest city and provincial capital of Liaoning province, which was formerly administered under Fengtian Fu, which was abolished in 1910 * Liaoning, the province formerl ...

by order of the Japanese Kwantung Army, out of the Manchurian branch office of Japan Air Transport, the forerunner of Imperial Japanese Airways. It officially adopted the name Manchuria Aviation Company on the proclamation of the independence of Manchukuo. Major

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

s were the Manchukuo government, the South Manchurian Railway Company and the

Sumitomo The is one of the largest Japanese ''keiretsu'', or business groups, founded by Masatomo Sumitomo (1585-1652) around 1615 during the early Edo period. History The Sumitomo Group traces its roots to a bookshop in Kyoto founded circa 1615 by Masa ...

'' zaibatsu''. From the beginning, the Manchuria Aviation Company was a

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

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 MKKK 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 Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

, Shamussi (Kiamusze), Kirin, Mukden,

Antung Andong / Antung (Wade-Giles) (), or Liaodong () was a former province in Northeast China, located in what is now part of Liaoning and Jilin provinces. It was bordered on the southeast by the Yalu River, which separated it from Korea. History The ...

Chinchow Jinzhou (, ), Postal Romanization, formerly Chinchow, is a coastal prefecture-level city in central-west Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city located in the Liaoxi Corridor, which connects most of the land transports ...

, Chengde, Tsitsihar, Hailar, and the

Kwantung Leased Territory The Kwantung Leased Territory ( ja, 關東州, ''Kantō-shū''; ) was a leased territory of the Empire of Japan in the Liaodong Peninsula from 1905 to 1945. Japan first acquired Kwantung from the Qing Empire in perpetuity in 1895 in the Trea ...

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. Manchukuo Airlines Tag

The repair shops of the MKKK produced copies of the Fokker Super Universal (

Nakajima Ki-6 The was a licensed-produced version of the Fokker Super Universal transport built by Nakajima Aircraft Company in the 1930s. Initially used as an airliner, the militarized version was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in a variety of roles, r ...

) and the De Havilland DH.80 "Pussmoth" 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.

Fleet

* 30x Manshū MT-1 ''Hayabusa'' airliner * 27x de Havilland DH.80 ''Pussmoth'' * 15x Messerschmitt Bf 108A/B ''Taifun'' liaison aircraft * 12x Nakajima AT-2 ''Thora'' transports * 10x Mitsubishi MC-20 ''Topsy'' transports * 10x Junkers Ju 86Z-1 transports/bombers * 10x Junkers Ju 86Z-2 transports/bombers * 2x Heinkel He 116A communications planes * 2x Fokker F.VIIb-3m/M transports * 1x

Tachikawa Ki-54 The Tachikawa Ki-54 was a Japanese twin-engine advanced trainer used during World War II. The aircraft was named Hickory by the Allies. History The Ki-54 was developed in response to an Imperial Japanese Army requirement for a twin-engine adva ...

''Hickory'' transport * 1x de Havilland DH.85 ''Leopardmoth'' * 1x

General Aviation GA-43 The General Aviation GA-43 was a single engine low-wing monoplane airliner produced in small numbers in the United States in the mid-1930s, also known as the Pilgrim 150, Fairchild 150, and sometimes but erroneously as the Clark GA-43 for the desi ...

transport * ?x Tachikawa Type LO ''Thelma'' transport (license build Lockheed Model 14-38 Super Electra) * ?x

Airspeed Envoy The Airspeed AS.6 Envoy was a twin-engined light transport aircraft designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Ltd. The Envoy originated as a heavier twin-engine derivative of Airspeed's Courier light transport aircra ...

(license build Mitsubishi Type Hinazuru transport) * ?x Manshū Super Universal (license built Fokker Super Universal) * ?x Kawasaki Ki-56 ''Thalia'' transport * ?x Kokusai Ki-59 transport

Accidents and incidents

* On June 20, 1941, Mitsubishi MC-20 (registration M-604) crashed in the Sea of Japan, killing all 18 on board.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Jowett, Philip. ''Rays of the Rising Sun, Volume 1: Japan's Asian Allies 1931-45, China and Manchukuo''. Helion and Company Ltd., 2005. . * Mikesh, Richard C. and Shorzoe Abe. ''Japanese Aircraft, 1910-1941''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990. . {{Authority control Defunct airlines of China Companies in Manchukuo Kwantung Army 1945 disestablishments in China Chinese companies established in 1931 Transport companies disestablished in 1945 Airlines established in 1931 Airlines disestablished in 1945