CAAC (airline)

CAAC
中国民航

IATA ICAO Call sign CA CCA CAAC
Founded	17 July 1952 (1952-07-17) (as the People's Aviation Company of China)
Commenced operations	9 June 1953 (1953-06-09) (as CAAC)
Ceased operations	1 July 1988 (1988-07-01) (split into six airlines)
Hubs	Beijing–Capital, Chengdu–Shuangliu, Guangzhou–Baiyun, Shanghai–Hongqiao, Shenyang–Taoxian, Xi'an–Xiguan
Fleet size	273
Destinations	85 cities in 25 countries (1987)
Parent company	China's State Council
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Key people	Director of the General Office

CAAC (中国民航), formerly the People's Aviation Company of China (中国人民航空公司), was the airline division of the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the monopoly civil airline in the People's Republic of China. It was founded on 17 July 1952, and merged into CAAC on 9 June 1953. In 1988, the monopoly was broken up and CAAC was split into six regional airlines, which later consolidated into China's Big Three airlines: Beijing-based Air China, Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, and Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines.

In 1962, CAAC began operating international services, initially to other countries in the communist bloc, such as the Soviet Union, Mongolia, North Korea, Laos, Burma, Bangladesh, North Vietnam, and Cambodia.^[1] By the mid-1980s, CAAC had long-haul service to the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia, mainly using American Boeing aircraft, while continuing to use Soviet aircraft on routes to Eastern Europe.^[2]