China National Aviation Corporation

CNAC Logo, taken from CNAC Zhejiang Branch aircraft, which was merged with Air China.

(中國航空公司 or CNAC) was an airline in the Republic of China. It was established in 1929 as China Airways by Curtiss_Wright, under the leadership of U.S. airline magnate Clement Keys. In 1933, after a series of disastrous accidents and disagreements with Chiang Kai_shek, Keys sold the company to Pan American World Airways, under the control of Keys' arch_rival Juan Trippe. Pan Am placed CNAC under the control of banker and aviator Harold Bixby. CNAC eventually operated routes from Shanghai to Peiping, Chungking, and Canton, using Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 aircraft. It was forced to cease operations following the Chinese revolution of 1949.