Early development of airlines in Asia
Some of the First Countries in Asia to Embrace Air Transport where Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The First country in Asia to embrace air transport was the Philippines. Philippine Airlines was founded on February 26, 1941, making it Asia's oldest carrier still operating under its current name. The airline was started by a group of businessmen led by Andres Soriano, hailed as one of the Philippines' leading industrialists at the time. The airline’s first flight was made on March 15, 1941 with a single Beech Model 18 NPC-54 aircraft, which started its daily services between Manila (from Nielson Field) and Baguio, later to expand with larger aircraft such as the DC-3 and Vickers Viscount. Notably Philippine Airlines leased Japan Airlines their first aircraft, a DC-3 named "Kinsei". On July 31, 1946, a chartered Philippine Airlines DC-4 ferried 40 American servicemen to Oakland,California from Nielson Airport in Makati City with stops in Guam, Wake Island, Johnston Atoll and Honolulu, Hawaii, making PAL the first Asian airline to cross the Pacific Ocean. A regular service between Manila and San Francisco was started in December. It was during this year that the airline was designated as the Philippines flag carrier.
Neighbouring countries soon embraced air transport, notably with Cathay Pacific founded in 1946, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines in 1947 (as Malayan Airways), Garuda Indonesia in 1949 and Japan Airlines founded in 1951. With the outbreak of World War Two, the airline presence in Asia came to a relative halt, with many new flag carriers donating their aircraft for military aid and other uses.
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