HISTORY: THE CIVIL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION OF CHINA (CAAC), formerly the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, is the aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China. CAAC was formed on November 2, 1949, shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, to manage all non-military aviation in the country, as well as provide general and commercial flight service (similar to Aeroflot in the Soviet Union). It was initially managed by the People's Liberation Army Air Force. In 1962, CAAC began operating international services, initially to other countries in the Communist bloc such as the Soviet Union, Mongolia, North Korea, Burma, Bangladesh, North Vietnam, and Cambodia. In 1987, CAAC's airline operations split into six separate airlines, each named after the geographic region of the location of their headquarters and main operatiing areas:
AIR CHINA (which inherited the IATA and ICAO code of the original CAAC)
CHINA SOUTHWEST AIRLINES (merged with Air China in 2002, originally based in Chengdu)
CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES (based in Shanghai)
CHINA NORTHWEST AIRLINES (merged with China Eastern in 2002, originally based in Xi'an)
CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES (based in Guangzhou)
CHINA NORTHERN AIRLINES (merged with China Southern in 2003, originally based in Shenyang)
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