TAIPEI-BASED FAR EASTERN AIR TRANSPORT RE-STARTS FLIGHT TRAINING

Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) (TAIEX:5605) has re-started flight simulation training for its pilots in preparation for the resumption of operations under new management, the Taipei-based aviation company said Saturday.

After Huafu Enterprise Co., Ltd. took over the company's management on Oct. 5, the group immediately embarked on a restructuring plan, starting with the pilot training program. It will send 30 pilots to the United States next week for 12 hours of flight simulation training and 16 hours of ground training.

Troubled by financial difficulties, the carrier suspended its flight training programs in May last year alongside an abrupt halt of its international and domestic flight operations, FAT said in a press release.

But FAT did not claim bankruptcy and a court ruled in April this year that the airline should be restructured. Huafu then took over management of the company and its restructuring.

As the Civil Aeronautics Administration has rescinded the airline's rights to operate international flights, FAT can only resume domestic flights and said it hopes to do so by the end of this year.

FAT will initially resume its flights on the Taipei-Kinmen and Taipei-Makong routes, followed by cross-Taiwan Strait flights from Taipei to Chongqing in Sichuan Province and Shenyang in Liaoning Province.

(CNA) bl

Related terms: aeronautics, aviation, bankruptcy, liaoning, restructuring, taipei, taiwan, training