AVIAMEER AIRLINES, S. A.: Belgium (1958-1960). Unable to continue as founding owners of LTU (Lufttransport Union), Englishmen Ronald Myhill and Bernard Dromgoole transfer their Vickers Viking from that German charter operation to Antwerp. Here they found a non-scheduled Belgian company in early 1958 to fly the aircraft. The Viking is employed to undertake ad hoc and inclusive-tour charter flights to Mediterranean and European resorts until Aviameer fails in the spring of 1960.
AVIANCA COLOMBIAN AIRLINES (AEROVIAS NACIONALES DE COLOMBIA, S. A.): Ave. El Dorado 93-30, Piso 5, Bogota 1, Colombia; Phone (57-1) 413-9511; Fax (57-1) 413-8716;
Http://www. avianca. com; Http://latina. latino. net. co/empresa/avianca/ main. html; Http://www. flylatinamerica. com/acc_avianca. html; Code AV; Year Founded 1940. Due to international political considerations, all German employees of SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aereos, S. A.) are dismissed on June 8, 1940 and replaced by employees of Pan American Airways (PAA), the major shareholder. Nine days later, the carrier receives its present name and shareholding is revised to show the U. S. carrier with 64% interest, the Colombian government with 15%, and local interests with 21%. The surviving SCADTA fleet is taken over, including the Ford Tri-Motors 5-AT-86, 5-AT-108, 5-AT-114, and 5-AT-1, also known as the Santander. On October 3, the February 23 merger between SCADTA and SACO (Servicio Aereo Colombiano, S. A.) is formally effected and the latter’s fleet of 2 Curtiss Condor T-32Cs and 2 Lockheed Model 10E Electras is taken over.
The small Villavicencio-based carrier Aerovias Ramales Colom-bianas, S. A. (founded in 1940), together with its fleet of 3 Beech 27 Staggerwings, 1 Ford 5-AT and 1 Ford 8-AT, is purchased from its owners, Hans Hoffman and Fritz Herzhauser, on April 25, 1941 and merged. During 1942-1945, under Pan American Airways (PAA) direction, the carrier’s route system is rationalized.
During these years, 3 Boeing 247Ds are lost: the Rodrigo de Bastidas in an October 24, 1942 crash; an unnamed C-139 by fire in 1943; and an unnamed C-146 in a February 27, 1944 crash. Meanwhile, the fleet is augmented in 1944 by 2 C-39s (military version of the Douglas DC-2) and the introduction in October 1945 of 3 Lockheed L-18 Lodestars.
Meanwhile, in a labor dispute, the airline is grounded for several weeks in mid-November 1944 following the resignation of pilots and mechanics. On October 22, 1945, AVIANCA makes headlines when it hires four U. S. women pilots.
The last Ford 5-ATs are withdrawn in 1946 and replaced by Sikorsky S-38s and 4 Consolidated PBY-5As, while 6 DC-3s join the fleet, succeeding the earlier surviving B-247Ds and Junkers W-34s. On March 21, a DC-3 launches the carrier’s first international service from Cali to Quito, Ecuador; this route is extended to Guayaquil on May 10.
Late in the year, the first 4 of an eventual fleet of 24 DC-4s are delivered. In a test, several are employed to fly the first chartered revenue flights from South America to Europe, ostensibly to bring home Colombians stranded at the end of World War II.
Flights begin to Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone on January 4, 1947. A C-54B with 4 crew and 13 passengers and en route from Bogota to Barrancabermeja on January 14, disappears; the wreckage is found near Puesto Araujo, Colombia, on January 29 and there are no survivors. Meanwhile, on January 22, a DC-4 inaugurates direct Miami service, becoming the first airliner from a South American west coast country to do so.
One of the new four-engine Douglas transports, with 4 crew and 49 passengers, slams into Mount Tablazo near Bogota on February 15; there are no survivors. A DC-3 crashes near Bogota on February 26 (seven dead).
Former Minister Sans de Santamaria is appointed general manager on June 12. A Cuenca operation is launched on July 22, signaling the establishment of an Ecuadorian network in one of the rare examples of full cabotage (i. e., the airline of one country operating domestic services within the borders of another nation).
Ecuador’s network is increased by the addition of Manta to the system on July 23, 1948. Enplanements for the year total 432,500. The Miami DC-4 route is extended, on a biweekly basis, to New York on April 20, 1949. A DC-3 is lost near the Colombian city of Bojaca on August 13 (31 dead).
Tulcan is added to the Ecuadorian network on January 10, 1950. DC-4 service to Lisbon, Paris, and Rome begins on March 6. A C-47D is damaged beyond repair at Ipiates, Colombia, on March 11; there are no fatalities.
En route from Quito to Guayaquil on May 2, a C-47D with 3 crew and 12 passengers smashes into a mountain at Chimborcza, Ecuador; there are no survivors.
The fleet is increased through the acquisition of 6 Curtiss C-46As and orders are placed for 6 Lockheed L-749A Constellations.
A C-47D freighter with two crew is lost at Barranquilla on August 29; there are no fatalities. Flights to Jamaica start on September 17.
The carrier expands its cargo capacity on January 10, 1951. A DC-3 with three crew crashes at Bogota on April 2; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities. The L-749As are delivered in May and are placed on the Bogota to New York route on June 24.
Ecuador threatens to end the carrier’s rights into the country on July 1 unless reciprocal rights are provided by Colombia. On July 3, a new L-749 route is inaugurated to Madrid. Three days later the company begins commercial night flights. Flights to Ecuador are barred beginning on August 7. The next day, the Ecuadorian ban is modified; AVIANCA may continue its international stop, but cannot provide local service. A DC-3 is destroyed in an accident at Barranquilla on July 9; there are no fatalities.
In accordance with a mutual agreement between Pan American World Airways (1) and Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA), AVIANCA suspends its Ecuadorian cabotage network (and all flight south of Colombia) in an orderly fashion throughout the remainder of the year.
LANSA (Lineas Aereas Nacionales, S. A.) is purchased on September 10, but is allowed to operate as a separate entity. Pan American World Airway’s interest is now reduced to 39%. Bogota to New York frequencies are raised to five per week on May 1, 1952, while Colombia to Europe flights are increased to four per week on August 1. SAT (Sociedad Aerea de Tolima, S. A.) is acquired and merged late in the year. Together with LANSA (Lineas Aereas Nacionales, S. A.), the carrier reports bookings of 700,000 and the transport of 70,000 tons of freight since January.
With the Constellation fleet fully operational, L-749A service to Frankfurt begins on February 27, 1953. On March 15, a $1-million contract is signed with Lockheed Aircraft Services International. Six-times-per-week Bogota to New York City flights begin on April 1 while Hamburg joins the route network on April 17.
Orders are now placed for 4 L-1049Es/Gs. A DC-3 is lost under uncertain circumstances at San Luis de Pelenque, Colombia, on September 19.
En route from Medellin on January 11, 1954, a DC-3 with 3 crew and 18 passengers is lost at Manizales; there are no survivors.
The carrier begins to increase its freight space on the Miami-Colombia route on March 22 through the use of “speedpack” containers attached to the undersides of its aircraft. The first L-1049E, delivered in late winter, begins service to Paris and Frankfurt via Bermuda and Santa Maria in the Azores, on April 24; Caracas is added as a stop on this route six days later. On May 1, LANSA (Lineas Aereas Nacionales, S. A.) is completely absorbed.
Contract pilot training begins at MacArthur Field, New York, on July 27. En route from Hamburg to Bogota on August 9, an L-749A with 9 crew and 21 passengers, crashes into a peak on Terceira Island in the Azores after takeoff from Lajes (30 dead).
L-1049E Bogota-New York via Kingston, Jamaica, service is initiated on October 1. On November 27, one of these flies from Jamaica to New York in a record 4 hrs. 57 min.
One more L-1049E, plus an L-1049G, is delivered, beginning in early 1955. On a scheduled March 9 flight from Cali, a C-47A with three crew and five passengers is lost at Trujillo; there are no survivors. The last of 6 C-46s is withdrawn toward year’s end.
On August 10, 1956, a DC-3 crashes near Villavicencio (six dead).
A C-47D with 3 crew and 12 passengers is lost in the Trujillo Mountains near El Solado, Colombia, on March 9, 1957; there are no survivors.
On June 1, L-1049G service is inaugurated to Lima via Quito; San Juan is added as a stop on the European route on June 30. Official records show a million passengers transported for the first time in a single year.
World History
