HONG KONG AIRWAYS 1947-1959

HONG KONG AIRWAYS 1947-1959

(all timetable covers and schedules are from the collection of Bjorn Larsson at www.timetableimages.com)

Hong Kong Airways was a parent company to BOAC and was established in 1947 to counteract the advances of the very competitive and aggressive PAN AM ( through its subsidiary China Aviation Airways corporation. 
BOAC was keen to establish Hong Kong Airways as a regional  airline that would feed passengers at its Honk Kong hub. The company received its designated routes authority in 1947 that covered mainland China and Manila . 
The fleet consisted with DC3s and the first inaugural flight to Shanghai was effected on December 2.1947 and to Guangzhou on January 10,1948, Flights to this latter proved to be so profitable that services were increased to 4 daily flights instead of the original 2. Flights to Manila were launched during the year. 
The timetable dated 26/02/1948 gives a clear picture of the routes and frequncies operated by Hong Kong Airways

However, the plans of BOAC ( and therefore the plans of the British government) did not evolve as expected since the communist army led by Mao Tse Toung occupied  mainland China at the end of 1949 and the new regime severed its ties with the West and entered period of international isolation that would 1ast 1/4 of a century.
With the new turn in events, Hong Kong Airways had to curtail its operations and operate only chartered flights to Taiwan in cooperation with Northwest Orient . 
The British authorities had to re-allocate the routes between Hong Kong Airways and Cathay Pacific . It was done in a very solomonian wisdom : All region north of Hong Kong will be turf of Honk Kong Airways (China, Taiwan, Korean and Japan), All regions south of Hong Kong would be allocated to Cathay Pacific and the route to Manila would be exploited by both companies. 
The company was sold ultimately to Jardine and Mathesons Co in 1949. 
Hong Kong Airways timetable dated November 8, 1955 shows flight operations to Taipei-Tokyo  (2 x week)  and Hong-Kong-Tapei-Okinawa-Tokyo (1 x week) the legs Taipei-Tokyo and Taipei-Okinawa-Tokyo were made in conjunction with Northwest Orient 
All flights were operated with  DC4

 

1955 map  - network length 3026.km

 The March 1.1957 reveals that services to Taipei amd Tokyo have  been dropped and replaced by a Hong Kong -Okinawa-Seoul link . Flights to Manila absent from the 1955 tiimetable are re-instated.

schedule

 

1957 map  - network length 3026 km

 
Attempts to Merge the company with Cathay Pacific started in 1953 and eventually,Cathay pacific will take over Hong Kong Airways on July 1,1959 giving to BOAC 15% of its shares and a seat on the board of Directors. At that time, the fleet consisted of 2 Vickers Viscounts 760D VR-HFI and VR-HFJ (delivered in 1957) . 

The January 1.1959 timetable shows the following schedules . All flights operated by the Vickers Viscount

 

VV700 -VR-HFI HONG KONG AIRWAYS .from the collectiom od Ed Coats

 schedule

1959 map  - network length 3438 km

 They will be sold to MALAYAN Airways. 

Maps courtesy of www.gcmap.com