The Liberty Times headline reported that Palau fearlessly faced pressure from Mainland China, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specially holding a press conference to publicly support the decision to suspend routes. But is Palau Airlines actually a ghost airline?? Is “Fearless of China’s Tourism Ban and Pressure to Break Diplomatic Relations, Palau Pacific Airlines Announces Suspension of China Routes, Ministry of Transportation Says Palau’s Persistence is Admirable…” just another government-manufactured fake news??
According to internet user Kang Zheng-yan, the truth is that Palau Airlines was established in November 2011, a small aviation company based in Palau, primarily operating tourist routes to and from Palau. Due to poor management, it went defunct in 2013. Not only did it owe landing fees to the Civil Aviation Administration, but it also failed to repay aircraft leasing fees from other airlines and withheld all prepaid ticket money from travel groups.
The boss behind this company is Lou Wen-hao. Starting from 1997 when he applied to operate in Taiwan under the name “Presidential Airlines,” he subsequently changed to “Angkor Airlines,” “Tonlé Sap Airlines,” “Palau Airlines,” and “Phnom Penh Airlines.” After one airline went defunct, he simply changed the company name and reapplied for operations in Taiwan. The bankruptcy case of Far Eastern Air also has his name appearing in it.
This current “Palau Pacific Airlines,” established in 2014 for operations, has only one rented aircraft and 10 crew members, with only one route: Palau to Hong Kong. Without me saying it, anyone can see who the boss behind this is and which people are playing these ghost airline tricks.
Kang Zheng-yan emphasized in conclusion: Isn’t it too embarrassing for the government to use this kind of company for propaganda while comforting itself?