| Founded | December 1938 (1938-12) |
|---|---|
| Ceased operations | October 1945 (1945-10) |
| Hubs | Haneda Airport Itami Airport Fukuoka No. 1 Airport Matsuyama Airport (Taipei) Keijo Airport (Seoul) |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Key people | Kodama Tsuneo(1938–1939) Nakagawa Kenzō(1939–1944) |
| Total equity | JPY 100 million(1939) |
Japan Airways Co.Ltd (大日本航空株式会社,Dai Nippon Kōkū Kabushiki Kaisha; also known asImperial Japanese Airlines,Great Japan Airlines orGreater Japan Airlines) was thenational airline of theEmpire of Japan duringWorld War II.
With the start of theSecond Sino-Japanese War, there was a tremendous need for air transport capability by the Japanese military, which had traditionally drawn on the resources of the civilian national flag carrier,Japan Air Transport, for its charter requirements. As Japan Air Transport's capacity was limited, conflict arose between theImperial Japanese Army andImperial Japanese Navy over priority, and the government saw the need for the creation of a single, nationalmonopoly.[1] The government bought a 50 percent share of Japan Air Transport, and renamed it theDai Nippon Kōkū in December 1938.
In the late 1930s, Dai Nippon Kōkū operated an extensive international network with a combination of foreign and domestic aircraft. The airline was linked withManchukuo National Airways for routes inChosen andManchukuo, and also had routes in the Japanese occupied portions of mainlandChina.[2] Internally, Dai Nippon Kōkū linked theJapanese home islands with theKwantung Leased Territory,Korea,Taiwan,Karafuto, andSaipan andPalau in theSouth Seas Mandate. The airline served the west and central Pacific areas using converted militaryflying boats.[2] The airline operated some longer charter flights, including flights to Iran and Italy in 1939, and had long-term plans to serve Europe through two routes, one passing through Manchuria and Central Asia and the other running from Bangkok through India and the Middle East.[3]
After the start of the Pacific War in 1942, the airline became completely government-owned and operated as two separate units under the control of theImperial Japanese Army andImperial Japanese Navy respectively.[3] By 1943, the airline flew a circular military convoy route from Taiwan through thePhilippines,Indonesia,Singapore,Thailand and southern China.[4] Operations continued until thesurrender of Japan in August 1945, despite heavy losses. Haneda Airport was seized by Allied forces in September, and the airline was formally disbanded in October.[3] During theAllied occupation, surviving aircraft and equipment were confiscated, and domesticcivil aviation in Japan was banned until the formation ofJapan Air Lines in 1951. Civil aviation to and from Japan was restored in 1947 with flights operated byNorthwest Orient Airlines andPan American Airways from Haneda.
The airline contracted to purchase long-rangeFocke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor aircraft from Germany in 1939, but never took delivery.[3]
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