Trans Australia Airlines
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| Founded | 8 February 1946 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 9 September 1946 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | April 1994 | ||||||
| Hubs | Melbourne Airport (Essendon Airport from 1947 to 1971) | ||||||
| Company slogan | Fly the Friendly Way The way we do the things we do 'It's Your TAA' |
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| Parent company | Australian National Airlines Commission | ||||||
| Headquarters | City of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | ||||||
Trans Australia Airlines or TAA (renamed Australian Airlines in 1986) was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its merger with Qantas in September 1992. As a result of the "COBRA" (or Common Branding) project, the entire airline was rebranded Qantas about a year later with tickets stating in small print "Australian Airlines Limited trading as Qantas Airways Limited" until the adoption of a single Air Operator Certificate a few years later. At that point, the entire airline was officially renamed "Qantas Airways Limited" continuing the name and livery of the parent company with the only change being the change of by-line from "The Spirit of Australia" to "The Australian Airline" under the window line with the existing "Qantas" title appearing above.
During its period as TAA, the company played a major part in the development of the Australian domestic air transport industry. The establishment of TAA broke the domestic air transport monopoly of ANA (Australian National Airways) in the late 1940s, and taking over the Queensland air network from QANTAS. It was also at the time TAA supported the Flying Doctor Services of Australia by providing aircraft, pilots and engineers to ensure every emergency was answered quickly. Qantas had also been instrumental in the formation of the Flying Doctor Service.
The airline's headquarters were located in the City of Melbourne. In 1954 TAA became the first airline outside Europe to introduce the Vickers Viscount "propjet", and in 1981 it introduced the Airbus A300, the first wide-body aircraft to be purchased by an Australian domestic airline providing TAA with a clear edge over major competitor at the time, Ansett Airlines of Australia which had purchased instead, the Boeing 767-200, receiving the type approximately a year later. Ironically, although the A300s were initially painted in full Qantas livery, they were phased out within a few years being replaced by previously international operated Qantas 767-238ERs, 767-338ERs and later supplemented by 7 ex British Airways 767-336ERs.
Qantas revived the Australian Airlines brand between 2002 and 2006 to serve the low-cost leisure market of visitors to and from Australia but using a full-service model, operating selected Qantas 767-338ERs – although the livery used was not the same as that used by the previous domestic operation.
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