Manchuria Aviation Company

Manchuria Aviation Company
滿洲航空株式會社
Mǎnzhōu Hángkōng Zhūshì Huìshè
Manshū Kōkū Kabushiki-gaisha

IATA ICAO Call sign RH N/A ?
Founded	September 26, 1931 (1931-09-26) Fengtian, Manchukuo
Ceased operations	August 1945 (1945-08)
Hubs	Xinjing Harbin
Focus cities	Mukden
Destinations	Domestic, Empire of Japan
Parent company	Government of Manchukuo South Manchuria Railway Sumitomo Group
Headquarters	Mukden, Manchukuo

Manchuria Aviation Company^[1][2][3] (traditional Chinese/Kyūjitai: 滿洲航空株式會社; simplified Chinese: 满州航空株式会社; Shinjitai: 満州航空株式会社; Hanyu Pinyin: Mǎnzhōu Hángkōng Zhūshì Huìshè; Wade–Giles: Man³-chou¹ Hang²-k'ung¹ Chu¹-shih⁴ Hui⁴-she⁴ Japanese Hepburn: Manshū Kōkū Kabushiki-gaisha, "MKKK") was the national airline of Manchukuo.

Manchuria Aviation Company was established on 26 September 1931 in Fengtian by order of the Japanese Kwantung Army, out of the Manchurian branch office of Japan Air Transport, the forerunner of Imperial Japanese Airways. It officially adopted the name Manchuria Aviation Company on the proclamation of the independence of Manchukuo. Major shareholders were the Manchukuo government, the South Manchurian Railway Company and the Sumitomo zaibatsu.

From the beginning, the Manchuria Aviation Company was a paramilitary airline, whose primary purpose was to provide transport and logistical support for the military, and for the transport of mail. Civilian passengers were carried and charter operations undertaken on a lower priority.

In 1936, an "Independent Volunteer Battalion" of the MKKK consisting of 13 aircraft fought on the side of the Inner Mongolian Army against Kuomintang-held Suiyuan.^[4]

The airline had a "hub" in Xinjing and was linked by regular flight routes from Harbin, Shamussi (Jiamusi), Jilin, Mukden, Andong, Jinzhou, Chengde, Qiqihar, Hailar, and the Kwantung Leased Territory and Korea areas, for connections with Imperial Japanese Airways (Dai Nippon Koku KK) to Japan itself or foreign routes.

In May 1937, MAC established a subsidiary, Kokusai Koku, to open a long-distance route between Hsinking and Berlin using two German Heinkel He 116 aircraft, in bilateral partnership with Lufthansa. The route was planned to operate through Central Asia with stops in Xinjiang, Kabul, Baghdad, and Rhodes. However, the outbreak of war with China made the route unfeasible. The He 116s, named Nogi and Togo, were ultimately used on the Hsinking-Tokyo route.

The repair shops of the MKKK produced copies of the Fokker Super Universal (Nakajima Ki-6) and the De Havilland DH.80 "Pussmoth."

The Manchuria Aviation Company ceased operations in August 1945 during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. However, wartime fuel and equipment shortages had previously curtailed its operations considerably. Remaining aircraft, goods and equipment were confiscated, to the benefit of the Soviet Union and Chinese Communist Party, after the conflict.

• 30x Manshū MT-1 Hayabusa airliner
• 27x de Havilland DH.80 Pussmoth
• 15x Messerschmitt Bf 108A/B Taifun liaison aircraft
• 12x Nakajima AT-2 Thora transports
• 10x Mitsubishi MC-20 Topsy transports
• 10x Junkers Ju 86Z-1 transports/bombers
• 10x Junkers Ju 86Z-2 transports/bombers
• 2x Heinkel He 116A communications planes
• 2x Fokker F.VIIb-3m/M transports
• 1x Tachikawa Ki-54 Hickory transport
• 1x de Havilland DH.85 Leopardmoth
• 1x General Aviation GA-43 transport
• ?x Tachikawa Type LO Thelma transport (license build Lockheed Model 14-38 Super Electra)
• ?x Airspeed Envoy (license build Mitsubishi Type Hinazuru transport)
• ?x Manshū Super Universal (license built Fokker Super Universal)
• ?x Kawasaki Ki-56 Thalia transport
• ?x Kokusai Ki-59 transport

• On June 20, 1941, Mitsubishi MC-20 (registration M-604) crashed in the Sea of Japan, killing all 18 on board.

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