TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers held a press conference on Wednesday (Dec. 16) to criticize the redesign of China Airlines’ cargo plane after photos of the new aircraft surfaced on Monday (Dec. 14).
Leaked photos of the new China Airlines Boeing 777 Freighter show the font size of “China Airlines” has been reduced and moved to the rear of the plane while on the front section of the fuselage, the letter “C” in “CARGO” outlines the shape of Taiwan’s main island.
DPP Legislators Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), and Lin Chu-yin (林楚茵); DPP Taipei City Councilor Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄); New Taipei City Councilors Ho Po-wen (何博文) and Chang Chih-hao (張志豪); as well as Kaohsiung City Councilor Lin Chih-hung (林智鴻) held the press conference at the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday morning to call on China Airlines to revise their latest design in order to clearly distinguish Taiwan, CNA reported.
Wang Ting-yu said the new design has caused dissatisfaction among the public and that he hopes the airline will come up with a better solution that can both make clear that it is a Taiwanese airline while at the same time not affect routes, air traffic rights, or contracts. Lin Chu-yin panned the airline for not going far enough with the latest design.
In response to the DPP press conference, Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that China Airlines should take the feedback into consideration and that the future redesign of its passenger planes should have clearer images of Taiwan.
China Airlines is Taiwan’s national carrier, but due to its confusing name, it is often mistaken for a Chinese airline. This happened earlier in the year when Taipei began sending masks to countries around the world to fight coronavirus using China Airlines planes, which caused many to think that the donations were coming from China rather than Taiwan.
More recently, the BBC just last week (Dec. 11) incorrectly used a picture of a China Airlines plane in a story about how China’s aviation authority sent out new guidelines advising Chinese flight attendants to wear diapers and avoid using the lavatory so as to reduce the risk spreading COVID-19 on flights to high-risk destinations.
