Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways phased out Monday their subsidiaries in Taiwan -- Japan Asia Airways Co. and Air Nippon Co. -- with the subsidiary airlines' historic last flights out of Taipei.

Beginning Tuesday, JAL and ANA will assume operation of all flights between Taiwan and Japan that were previously handled by the subsidiaries, a move that normalizes commercial aviation ties between Taipei and Tokyo.

"This is a 34-year-old wish come true for us," said ANA Vice President Minoru Aimono in a press conference last week to celebrate the phasing out in Taiwan of Air Nippon.

Air Nippon and JAL's subsidiary Japan Asia Airways were established in 1974 and 1975, respectively, after Tokyo switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, causing air travel between Japan and Taiwan to grind to a halt in the absence of official ties.

ANA and JAL set up the subsidiaries as a sop to China, allowing the national carriers to politically distance themselves from their Taiwan-based operations.

Using subsidiary airlines to operate flights to and from Taiwan was also a common practice at the time for other national carriers whose countries had severed ties with Taipei to recognize Beijing.

More than three decades later, however, the practice is obsolete, with Japan being the last nation whose main carriers used subsidiary airlines to operate flights to and from Taiwan for political reasons.

"Our commitment to quality and safety will remain the same. Also, JAL will operate the same number of flights, or 49 a week, to and from Taiwan, as Japan Asia Airways," said Hung Kun-kuo, a Japan Asia Airways public relations official.

Hung made the comment at a Monday press conference at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan's main civilian airport.

Held at the departure gate for the last Japan Asia Airways passenger jet to fly to Japan from Taiwan, the conference marked the end of the subsidiary in Taiwan.

But the phasing out of both subsidiaries promises to be in name only, and could boost passenger traffic.

While JAL will operate Japan Asia Airways' operations in Taiwan with little change beyond logos and titles, ANA, starting Monday, will add seven flights between Taipei and Tokyo.

Daily ANA 9:45 a. m. Taipei-Tokyo flights and 6:30 p. m. Tokyo-Taipei flights began Monday, one day before ANA phased out Air Nippon in Taiwan in lock step with JAL's phasing out Japan Asia Airways, an ANA press release said.

"This is good for business because Taiwanese passengers will feel more at ease going to Japan using brand-name carriers," Chico Chen, chairman of Taipei-based Richmond Tours, which sells travel packages to Japan-bound Taiwanese tourists.

"It's also less confusing for them if they have to transit from, say, an Air Nippon flight to an ANA flight, when in fact, both flights are operated by the same airline," Chen said.

"They'll be more willing to fly now."