'Avianca' (
Spanish acronym: ''Aerovías del Continente Americano'', formerly ''Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia'') has been the national
flag air carrier of
Colombia since 1919, making it the second oldest
airline in the world behind
KLM. Likewise it is the largest
airline in the country. Avianca was founded in
Barranquilla, but its main operation base and headquarters are in
Bogotá adjacent to
El Dorado International Airport where it operates domestic and international scheduled and chartered flights to cities in
Europe,
North America,
Central America, the
Caribbean and
South America.
Avianca operates five subsidiary
airlines:
SAM and
Helicol in
Colombia,
OceanAir in
Brazil,
VIP in
Ecuador and
Capital Airlines in
Nigeria. It has three important business units:
Avianca Cargo (Deprisa),
Avianca Services and the tour operator
DesKubra.
History
SCADTA (1919 - 1940)
SCADTA was established in 1919
The airline traces its history back to
December 5,
1919, in the city of
Barranquilla,
Colombia.
Germans Werner Kämerer, Stuart Hosie, Alberto Tietjen, and
Colombians Ernesto Cortissoz (the first President of the Airline), Rafael Palacio, Cristóbal Restrepo, Jacobo Correa, and Aristides Noguera founded the Colombo-German Company called ''Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transporte Aéreo'', or
SCADTA. The company accomplished its first flight between Barranquilla and the nearby town of
Puerto Colombia aboard a
Junker F13 wherein 57 pieces of mail were transported; the flight was piloted by German Helmuth Von Krohn. This and another aircraft of the same type were completely mechanically constructed
monoplanes, the engines of which had to be modified in order to be able to efficiently operate in the climatic conditions of the country; there were nine aircraft in the fleet with a total range of 850 km (525 Mi) and could carry up to four passengers and two crewmen. Due to the topographic characteristics of the country, and the lack of airports at the time, two
floats were adapted to the
Junkers aircraft in order for them to accomplish water landings in the rivers of different towns. Using these floats Helmuth Von Krohn was able to perform the first inland flight over Colombia on
October 20,
1920, following the course of the
Magdalena River; the flight took eight hours and had to make four emergency landings in the water.
Soon after the vision of the founding group had become a reality, German
scientist and
philanthropist Peter von Bauer became interested in the airline and contributed general knowledge,
capital, and a tenth aircraft for the company as well as obtaining
concessions from the Colombian government to operate the country's
airmail transportation division using the airline. This new contract allowed
SCADTA to thrive in a new frontier of aviation. By the mid 1920s,
SCADTA, having overcome many obstacles, inaugurated its first international routes that initially covered destinations in
Venezuela and the
United States. Regretfully, in 1924, the aircraft that both Ernesto Cortizzos and Helmuth Von Krohn were piloting crashed into an area currently known as Bocas de Ceniza, in Barranquilla, causing their deaths. Despite this tragedy the airline continued to thrive under the guidance of German Peter von Braun until the early 1940s where circumstances related to the outbreak of
World War II forced him to sell his shares in the airline to the
U.S. owned
Pan American World Airways.
National Airways of Colombia (1940 - 1994)
On
June 14,
1940, in the city of Barranquilla,
SCADTA, under ownership by
United States businessmen merged with
Colombian Air Carrier
SACO (
acronym of ''Servicio Aéreo Colombiano'') forming the new ''Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia S.A.'' or Avianca. Five
Colombians participated in this act (Rafael María Palacio, Jacobo A. Corea, Cristobal Restrepo, Aristides Noguera), and
German citizens Alberto Teitjen, Werner Kaemerer, and Stuart Hosie, while the post of first President of Avianca was acquired by Martín del Corral. There had been decades of dedicated work and contribution to
Colombia's development through actions among which the following may be highlighted:
''Avianca, the oldest air company of the
Americas''
★ In September of 1920, with Fritz Hammer as pilot, Wilhem Schnurrbush as copilot, and Stuart Hosie as a passenger,
SCADTA accomplished its first flight between
Barranquilla and
Puerto Berrío.
★ On
October 19 of that same year, Helmuth Von Krohn accomplished the first flight between
Barranquilla and
Girardot, and by 1921 routes between
Barranquilla,
Girardot, and
Neiva were established.
★ In 1922 Avianca began to provide airmail service.
★ In August of 1922, General
Pedro Nel Ospina, then
President of Colombia, used for the first time a
SCADTA aircraft to conduct official business.
★ On
July 19,
1923, to save the country from
bankruptcy,
SCADTA transported a gold and currency load from
Puerto Berrío to
Girardot.
★ On
July 12,
1928, a
SCADTA Junker F13, commanded by Pilot Herbert Boy crossed the
Equator.
★ On
July 23,
1929, regular routes between Girardot and
Bogotá were established.
★ The cost of the first
SCADTA air tickets were as follows: from
Bogotá to
Barranquilla, COP $75; from
Bogotá to
Cartagena, COP $85; from
Bogotá to
Cartago, COP $35; from
Bogotá to
Cali, COP $ 50.
★ On
July 16,
1931,
SCADTA established the first mail service between
Bogotá and
New York City.
★ In 1937, the
airline acquired 10
Boeing 247 twin-engine aircraft, extending its domestic routes.
★ By October 1939, Avianca acquired the first
Douglas DC3 aircraft arriving in the country, flying then at the incredible speed of 200 miles per hour.
★ Beginning in 1946, Avianca inaugurated flights to
Quito,
Lima,
Panama City,
Miami,
New York City, and finally
Europe using
Douglas DC4 and
C-54 aircraft,.
★ In 1951, Avianca acquired the
Lockeed Constellation 0749 and the
Super Constellation 1049L aircraft, the biggest and fastest of the time.
★ A grand feat in
Colombian commercial aviation was also conducted by Avianca in 1956 when the
airline committed to take the
Colombian delegation that was to participate in the
Melbourne Olympic Games in
Australia. There were 61 hours of continuous operation, with only one stop for refueling allowed.
★ Four years later, in 1961, Avianca leased two
Boeing 707-100 aircraft to operate its international routes, and on
November 24,
1961, it acquired its own
Boeing 720, baptizing them with the names
Simón Bolívar and
Francisco de Paula Santander.
★ The year 1976 was an important one for Avianca becoming the first
Latin American
airline to continuously operate a
Boeing 747. Three years later it started operations with another 747, this time a
747 Combi mixed cargo and passenger operations.
★ In 1981 the possibilities for in-ground service for passengers in
Bogotá expanded thanks to the modern air terminal that Avianca commissioned:
Avianca’s Air Bridge. The new terminal originally operated routes to
Miami,
New York City,
Cali,
Medellín,
Pasto, and
Montería.
Avianca's former logo.
★ By 1990 Avianca had acquired the most modern aircraft in the world: two
Boeing B767-200ERs, which were baptized with the names of
Cristóbal Colón and
Américo Vespucio
Avianca's System (1994 - 2002)
In 1994, a strategic alliance was established to merge three of the most important enterprises of the aeronautical sector of Colombia: Avianca, the regional carrier
SAM and the helicopter operator
Helicol, which brought life to Avianca’s new system of operations. This system offered specialized services in Cargo (
Avianca Cargo) and postal services as well as the most modern fleet in
Latin America made up of:
Boeing B767-200,
Boeing B767-300,
Boeing B757–200,
McDonnell Douglas MD83,
Fokker F50 and
Bell Helicopters. This new system covered the following destinations:
★ In
Colombia:
Bogotá,
Arauca,
Armenia,
Cali,
Medellín,
Barranquilla,
Bucaramanga,
Cartagena,
Cúcuta,
Santa Marta,
Leticia,
Manizales,
Montería,
Pasto,
Pereira,
Popayán,
Riohacha,
San Andrés,
Valledupar,
Providencia, Capurganá,
Bahía Solano,
Nuquí,
Caucasia and
Chigorodó.
★ In
South America:
Buenos Aires,
Santiago de Chile,
Rio de Janeiro,
São Paulo,
Lima,
Quito,
Guayaquil and
Caracas.
Avianca 80th Anniversary Logo
★ In
North America:
Los Angeles,
Newark,
New York City,
Fort Lauderdale,
Miami and
Mexico City.
★ In
Europe:
Madrid,
Paris,
Frankfurt and
London.
★ In
Central America and the
Caribbean:
Panama,
San José,
San Juan,
Curaçao,
Santo Domingo and
Aruba.
By 1996,
Avianca Postal Services evolved into
Deprisa, providing
express mail services through its porducts Deprisa and Deprisa Empresarial, Traditional Mail, Certified Mail, shipment Airport-to-Airport, and
P.O. boxes.
On
December 10,
1998, Avianca announced the inception of a new "connections center" in
Bogotá offering around 6,000 possible weekly connecting flights and an increased number of frequencies, schedules, and destinations, taking advantage of the privileged geographical location of the country’s capital for the benefit of Colombian and international travellers between
South America,
Europe and
North America.
Alianza Summa (2002 - 2004)
After a rigorous and complex process the worldwide aviation industry came through after the
September 11 Terrorist Attacks in the United States, Avianca, the regional carrier
SAM and its major rival
ACES joined efforts to create
Alianza Summa, which began merged operations on
May 20,
2002. These three airlines decided to strategically merge their strengths to offer a more efficient service with concerns to quality, quantity, security, and competition in a new struggling marketplace. However, adverse circumstances within the industry and markets forced the alliance to disband, and airline shareholders decided to initiate the liquidation of Alianza Summa in November of 2003, to focus in streghtening the Avianca trademark. These decisions resulted in the liquidation of
ACES altogether, and the acquisition of
SAM as a regional carrier under Avianca's system.
American Continent Airways (2004 - Present)
On
December 10,
2004, Avianca concluded one of the most important and ambitious reorganization processes undertaken after filing for ''
Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection'' by obtaining confirmation of its Reorganization Plan which was financially backed by the
Brazilian consortium
OceanAir/
Synergy Group and the
National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, allowing the airline to obtain funds for US$63 million dollars in the 13 months following withdrawal from C-11.
The Plan, which counted with the support of 99.8% of the voting creditors and which obtained the majority endorsement of the Creditors Committee, will enter into force once the Company emerges from bankruptcy. In accordance with
United States laws, the administration has the trust obligation to consider any other investment proposal until the final term expiration stipulated. Notwithstanding, such offer, besides being better than the one that has been approved by Avianca’s domestic and international creditors and confirmed today by the Court, must be final, i.e. fully financed and backed with non-reimbursable cash deposits or equivalent mechanisms. Likewise, such proposal must be binding. As known, the only investment that complies with these requirements is that of
OceanAir/
Synergy Group and the
National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, which already makes part of the Reorganization Plan already voted favorably by the creditors and confirmed by the Judge.
Synergy Group is an evidenced credit-worthy
Brazilian entrepreneurial conglomerate. Its strength lies in the oil sector, building, installing, and offering maintenance to offshore oil platforms; it is currently carrying exploration work in
Brazil,
Ecuador, and
Colombia. Other businesses include the extraction of gas in the
United States; naval construction, telephony infrastructure, hydroelectric power plants, communications and a hydrocarbons marine exploration company which extends throughout nine countries with more than 5,000 workers.
It also owns and operates
OceanAir, which services around thirty cities in
Brazil, as well as
VIP, an airline in
Ecuador, Taxi Aero, a charter airline in Brazil, and the recently acquired
Wayra in
Peru, as well as Turb Serv dedicated to the maintenance of turbines. Avianca, as part of its amitious expansion plan, plans to join
SkyTeam in
2008 or
2009, sponsored by its longtime partner
Delta Airlines.
Incidents and accidents
The
airline suffered a few incidents during the 1980s and early 1990s. Many were caused by warring gangs, under the assumption that a member of a rival gang was aboard. The deadliest of those incidents was
Avianca Flight 203, which was bombed in 1989 following orders from
Pablo Escobar to kill a politician. In the aftermath, it was found that the politician had not boarded the plane. Only one successful bombing has occurred in the airline's history, while most other gang related incidents were related to hijackings, or shootings on board. In most hijackings, all passengers and crew members unaffiliated with the hijacker's cause were immediately released.
On
April 26,
1990,
M-19 presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro was gunned down during a domestic Avianca flight
[1][2].
Other incidents include:
★
Avianca Flight 011, a
Boeing B747-200 that crashed onto a mountain just short of landing at
Barajas International Airport in
Madrid, Spain in September of 1983 and had 181 fatalities . The cause was determined as pilot error.
★
Avianca Flight 410, a
Boeing B727 domestic flight which crashed into low mountains after take-off on
March 17,
1988, killing all 143 on board. It was determined that pilot error was also the cause of this crash in a situation similar to that of
Avianca Flight 011 five years earlier at Santander, Colombia.
★ On
January 25,
1990,
Avianca Flight 52, a
Boeing B707-321 jet en route from
Bogotá to
New York City via
Medellín, crashed in the town of
Cove Neck, New York after running out of fuel while in a
holding pattern awaiting landing at New York's Kennedy Airport, killing 73 of the 158 people aboard. There was much controversy surrounding this crash. The Spanish-speaking pilots appeared not to know how to indicate the urgency of their situation in English. Also, air traffic controllers may have contributed to the disaster by not providing sufficient information regarding poor weather conditions around
JFK airport and the time, and maintaining the jet in a holding pattern for too long despite being told that Flight 52 was low on fuel.
Destinations
Main articles: Avianca destinations
Avianca's hub is Bogotá's
El Dorado International Airport. Its focus cities are Medellín, Cali, Cartagena and Barranquilla.
Avianca have also applied for permission to resume service to the following European cities by 2008.
★
Frankfurt 4 weekly
★
London 3 weekly
★
Paris 5 weekly
All of the above are to be served separately, nonstop from
Bogotá.
VIP lounges
Avianca have their own VIP lounges at the following airports.
Colombia
★
El Dorado International Airport (
Bogotá)
★
José María Córdova International Airport (
Medellín)
★
Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (
Barranquilla)
★
El Edén Airport (
Armenia,_Colombia)
★
Matecaña International Airport (
Pereira)
★
Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport (
Cali)
★
Camilo Daza International Airport (
Cúcuta)
Ecuador
★
Mariscal Sucre International Airport (
Quito)
★
José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport (
Guayaquil)
DesKubra Tours
DesKubra: Avianca's travel agency
DesKubra is Avianca’s commercial division specialized in the design and offer of tourist packages for destinations in
Colombia and abroad.
Deskubra offers plans to:
★ The
Colombian
Caribbean (
Santa Marta,
Cartagena,
San Andrés Island)
★
Armenia
★ The interior of
Colombia (
Bogotá,
Cali,
Medellín)
★
Argentina
★
Chile
★
Chile plus
Argentina (Lake crossing)
★
Margarita Island
★
Aruba
★
Florida (
Miami and
Fort Lauderdale)
★
Panamá
★
Mexico (
Mexico City, plus
Taxco and
Acapulco and plus
Puerto Vallarta)
★
Brazil
★
Perú (
Lima and
Cusco)
★
Spain (
Madrid)
Alliances
Affinity programs
AviancaPlus: Avianca's frequent flyer program
AviancaPlus is Avianca's frequent flyer program. Avianca offers frequent flyer partnerships the following:
Codeshare partners
Presently, Avianca has codeshare agreements with:
★
Aerolineas Argentinas
★
Air China
★
Conviasa
★
Delta Air Lines
★
Mexicana de Aviación
★
Iberia
★
Air Canada
★
Grupo TACA
★
Satena
Subsidiaries
★
Avianca Cargo is a
cargo airline based at
El Dorado International Airport in
Bogotá,
Colombia.
★
SAM was an
airline based at
El Dorado International Airport in
Bogotá,
Colombia, it stopped operating in December 2006, and it's fleet is now part of Avianca.
★
Helicol is an helicopter operator based at
El Dorado International Airport in
Bogotá,
Colombia.
★
OceanAir is an
airline based at
Guarulhos International Airport in
São Paulo,
Brazil.
★
VIP is a
regional airline based at
Mariscal Sucre International Airport in
Quito,
Ecuador.
★
Capital Airlines is a
regional airline based at
Murtala Mohammed International Airport in
Lagos,
Nigeria.
Avianca Group
Former subsidiaries
★
Wayraperú was an
airline based at
Jorge Chávez International Airport in
Lima,
Peru. It stopped operating due to internal administrative problems between the societs, Avianca decided to finish the society and the company was absorved by Avianca, including it's fleet.
Fleet
Current
Avianca
OceanAir
Helicol
Capital Airlines
Retired
| Date | Aircraft | Notes | Photo |
|---|
| Early 1930s | Junkers F13 | Avianca as SCADTA | [3] |
| November 1968 | Boeing B737-159 | - | [4] |
| April 1973 | Boeing B727-24C | - | [5] |
| June 1977 | Boeing B747-124 | Latin America launch costumer | [6] |
| June 1979 | Boeing B747-124 | - | [7] |
| March 1980 | Boeing B727-21 | - | [8] |
| Mid 1980's | Boeing B747-123 | American Airlines colors | [9] |
| December 1980 | Boeing B707-321C | Pan Am colors | [10] |
| September 1988 | Boeing B727-225/Adv | Eastern Airlines colors | [11] |
| December 1989 | Boeing B727-225/Adv | Eastern Airlines colors | [12] |
| Early 1990s | Boeing B757-23A | - | [13] |
| Mid 1990's | Boeing B747-128 | Air Atlanta Icelandic colors | [14] |
| December 5, 1993 | Boeing B757-236 | Ambassador Airlines colors | [15] |
| April 1995 | Boeing B727-2H3/Adv | - | [16] |
| February 1998 | Boeing B727-2H3/Adv | Bancoquia Bank colors | [17] |
| August 16, 1998 | Boeing B727-2A1/Adv | ES: ''Tómese ya unas Aviancaciones. Usted se las merece.''
EN: ''Take some Aviancations now. You deserve it. | [18] |
| January 1999 | McDonnell Douglas MD-11ER | World Airways colors | [19] |
| September 1999 | Boeing B767-3S1/ER | Grupo TACA colors | [20] |
| October 9 2000 | Boeing B757-2Q8 | 1960's colors | [21] |
| August 15, 2002 | Boeing B767-284/ER | Summa Alliance colors | [22] |
| October 28, 2002 | Boeing B757-2Q8 | ES: ''80 años''
EN: ''80 years'' | [23] |
| October 24, 2003 | Boeing B757-256 | AeroMar colors | [24] |
| November 23, 2003 | Boeing B757-236 | TransMeridian Airlines colors | [25] |
| January 12, 2005 | Boeing B757-208 | Icelandair colors | [26] |
| April 17, 2005 | Boeing B767-3Y0/ER | ES: ''85 años''
EN: ''85 years'' | [27] |
| October 22, 2005 | Boeing B767-2B1/ER | Current livery | [28] |
| December 30, 2005 | Boeing B757-28A | North American Airlines colors | [29] |
| July 8, 2006 | Boeing B767-283/ER | ES: ''Colombia es pasión''
EN: ''Colombia is passion'' | [30] |
| July 18, 2007 | Boeing B757-236 | Juan Valdez livery | [[31]] |
Awards and nominations
Awards
★
Avianca VIP Lounge at El Dorado Int'l Airport - Latin America & Caribbean - 2006 Priority Pass Lounge of the Year Awards
Nominations
2007
★
South America's Leading Airline - 14th World Travel Awards
★
South America's Leading Airline Website - 14th World Travel Awards
★
'(OceanAir)' South America's Leading Budget / No Frills Airline - 14th World Travel Awards
★
South America's Leading Business Class Airline - 14th World Travel Awards
2006
★
South America's Leading Airline - 13th World Travel Awards
★
South America's Leading Business Class Airline - 13th World Travel Awards
2005
★
South America's Leading Airline - 12th World Travel Awards
★
South America's Leading Business Class Airline - 12th World Travel Awards
External links
Web sites around the world
Other links
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