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Eurasia Aviation Corporation

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Eurasia Aviation Corporation
Founded1925 (1925)
Ceased operations1943 (1943)
HubsKai Tak Airport
HeadquartersShanghai, China
Eurasia Aviation Corporation
Traditional Chinese歐亞航空公司
Simplified Chinese欧亚航空公司
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinŌu Yà Hángkōnggōngsī
Wade–GilesOu Ya Hang-k'ung Kung-ssu

Eurasia Aviation Corporation (Chinese: 歐亞航空公司) was a Chinese airline headquartered in Shanghai.[1] The company had a Sino-German joint-venture with Deutsche Luft Hansa.[2] Eurasia, classified as a state-owned airline by the Ministry of Communications of China,[3] operated the Junkers W33[4] and, later, the three-engined Junkers Ju 52.The main fleet base was Hong Kong. When the Japanese began occupying portions of China in the late 1930s, the airline encountered difficulty.[3]

On the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, about a dozen of Imperial Japanese Army Air Force's Ki-36 attack bombers from the 45th Sentai, escorted by nine Ki-27s from the 10th Dokuritsu Hikō Chutai led by Captain Akira Takatsuki, attacked Kai Tak airfield, Hong Kong, destroying many civilian and combat aircraft of the Commonwealth, the CNAC, and three Eurasia Aviation's Junkers 52/3m airliners; these were believed to have been aircraft ‘XIX’ (fmr. D-AGEI), ‘XXII’ (fmr. D-ABIZ) and ‘XXIV’ (fmr. D-AIMP). A fourth Junkers, believed to have been ‘XV’ (fmr. D-ANYK) was undamaged, as was a single Junkers W 34 ‘II’ (fmr. D-7).[5]

Routes

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Routes included Shanghai-Lanzhou, Beiping (Beijing)-Henan, Liangzhou-Urumqi, and Shanghai-Manzhouli.[6]

Accidents and incidents

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The following accidents and incidents occurred on Eurasia aircraft:

  • Junkers Ju-52/3m XVIII crashed after engine failure in Kunming on 1 August 1937.[7]
  • Junkers Ju-52/3mge XXI crashed during a landing attempt in strong crosswinds in Wuhan on 16 July 1938.[8]
  • Junkers Ju-52/3mge XXIII Chiao T'ung 1 crashed into a mountain west of Guizhou near Weining on a passenger flight from Chongqing to Kunming on 12 March 1939. Four of the six occupants were killed.[9]
  • Junkers Ju-52/3m XVII Lanchow was destroyed while standing by fire after being strafed by Japanese fighters in Hanzhong on 6 May 1939.[10]
  • Junkers Ju-52/3mte XXV was attacked by three Japanese fighters on its delivery flight and forcibly landed in a rice field near Kunming where it was strafed and caught fire on 26 October 1940. Both occupants survived.[11]
  • Junkers Ju-52/3m XX was destroyed by a Japanese bombing while standing at Chengdu Airfield on 30 December 1940.[12]
  • Junkers Ju-52/3m XXII and Junkers Ju-52/3m XT-AGE were both destroyed while standing at Hong Kong-Kai Tak International Airport during a Japanese bombing on 8 December 1941.[13][14]
  • Junkers Ju-52/3m XT-ABE Suchow was destroyed while standing at Guilin during a Japanese air raid on 11 December 1941.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Flight International. April 28, 1938. p. 416 (Archive). " EURASIA AVIATION CORP., 97, Jinkee Road, Shanghai."
  2. ^ "Eurasia Aviation Corporation - A German-Chinese Airline in China and its Airmail 1931-1943 by Peter Moeller and Larry D. Sall, paperback in color, 2007, 153 pages, great book on the history of this airline, includes a listing of First Flight covers and catalog values." China Stamp Society. Retrieved on October 4, 2014.
  3. ^ a b Ballantine, Collin and Pamela Tang. "Chinese airlines: airline colours of China." Airlife, 1995. p. 6. Chinese Ministry of Communications which declared Eurasia to be a Chinese State-owned airline. The airline then fell into more trouble as a direct result of the continuing Japanese occupation. The fleet of airliners was based in Hong Kong[...]"
  4. ^ Ballantine, Collin and Pamela Tang. "Chinese airlines: airline colours of China." Airlife, 1995. p. 5. "The outcome of this venture was Eurasia Airlines, operating six- seater Junkers W33 airliners across Asia into China."
  5. ^ Gustavsson, Hakans. "Hakans Aviation page - Sino-Japanese Air War 1941". surfcity.kund.dalnet.se. Retrieved 2021-01-15. Japanese aircraft bombed and attacked from low level, heavy bombs falling on the barracks in Shamshuipo Camp while the fighters strafed; one of the three present Vildebeests (K2924, K2818, K6370) and both present Walrus amphibians (L2259, L2819) went up in flames. The Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps Tutor, two Hornet Moths and two Cadets were also put out of action... Three Ju 52/3m airliners of Eurasia Air Corporation were also destroyed... Japanese pilots claimed 12 aircraft destroyed at Kai Tak... WO Eiji Seino, who together with his wingman, staffed the airfield and claimed a number of aircraft destroyed on the ground... all undamaged civil aircraft, crowded with evacuees, were flown away from Hong Kong by American and Chinese pilots to Namyung, 200 miles inland...
  6. ^ Flight International. November 2, 1933. p. 1092.
  7. ^ "Accident Junkers Ju-52/3m XVIII,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  8. ^ "Accident Junkers Ju-52/3mge XXI,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  9. ^ "Accident Junkers Ju-52/3mge XXIII,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  10. ^ "UI Junkers Ju-52/3m XVII,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  11. ^ "UI Junkers Ju-52/3mte XXV,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  12. ^ "UI Junkers Ju-52/3m XX,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  13. ^ "Accident Junkers Ju-52/3m XXII,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  14. ^ "UI Junkers Ju-52/3m XT-AGE,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  15. ^ "UI Junkers Ju-52/3m XT-ABE,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2024-05-12.

Further reading

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  • Moeller, Peter and Larry D. Sall. Eurasia Aviation Corporation - A German-Chinese Airline in China and its Airmail 1931-1943. 2007.
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