TransAsia Airways, Taiwan’s first private-owned airline company, officially listed on the main board of the Taiwan Stock Exchange on 01-Nov-2011, gaining strong interest from investors and becoming the third carrier to be listed in Taiwan after China Airlines and EVA Air.

The IPO followed quickly after the carrier announced it had attracted two strategic investors by selling 50 million shares to Paradigm Transportation Holdings BV and 1.3 million shares to Maurice Savart.  Chairman Vincent Lin in an interview with Taipei Times at the end of Oct-2011 commented that TransAsia has “proven itself to be a company that deserves the attention of investors, based on the company’s performance over the first half of this year”. He added that there is a large growth room for TransAsia in the coming years as it aggressively expands its international network and benefits from strong cross-Strait demand.

TransAsia President Andy Chen added that the carrier has benefited from its regional air carrier position and branding, which has “helped us establish a clearer picture when managing the company”.  However, the profitable carrier is expecting a lower profit this year compared to its TWD918 million (USD31 million) profit in 2010 due to rising price of fuel, which has so far increased 28.2% compared to last year.