China Airlines (CAL) (Chinese: 中華航空; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Hángkōng) (: 2610) is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is headquartered in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and has 12,607 regular employees. China Airlines operates over 1,400 flights weekly to 118 airports in 115 cities (including codeshare) across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. The cargo division operates 91 pure freighter flights weekly. The carrier was, in 2013, the 29th and 10th largest airline in the world in terms of passenger revenue per kilometer (RPK) and freight RPK, respectively. China Airlines has three airline subsidiaries: Mandarin Airlines operates flights to domestic and low-demand regional destinations; China Airlines Cargo, a member of Skyteam Cargo, operates a fleet of freighter aircraft and manages its parent airline's cargo-hold capacity; Tigerair Taiwan is a low-cost carrier established by China Airlines and Singaporean airline group Tigerair Holdings.

With a fleet of two PBY Amphibians, China Airlines was established on December 16, 1959, with its shares completely held by the Republic of China government. It was founded by a retired air force officer and initially concentrated on charter flights. During the 1960s, China Airlines was able to establish its first scheduled routes. In October 1962, a flight from Taipei to Hualien became the airline's first domestic service. Later, with the introduction of Caravelle and Boeing 727-100s,the airlines introduced international flights to South Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Japan. With the airlines' first two Boeing 707 aircraft, trans-Pacific flights to San Francisco via Tokyo were initiated on February 2, 1970. The expansion of the company's 707 fleet also permitted more services in Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and North America (via Japan and Hawaii).

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