Linair is set up at Tripoli in 1962 to provide passenger and cargo charters on behalf of the energy industry. Shareholding is divided between local Libyan concerns and Sabena Belgian World Airlines, S. A., which provides the aircraft and technical support, including Douglas DC-3s. Z. Y. Lenghi is president.
Sabena turns over its interest to Belgian International Air Services,
S. A. in July 1965. The new support airline picks up where the state carrier had left off.
Flights continue through the remainder of the decade and into the 1970s with a fleet that comprises six DC-3s and a Fokker F.27-200. In
January 1975, Libyan Arab Airlines is given exclusive authority to operate in the country, forcing Linair out of business.
LIDCA (LINEAS AEREAS DEL CARIBE, S. A.): Carrera 56, No. 74-22 Edificio LAC, Barranquilla, Colombia; Phone 57 (58) 347 923; Fax 57 (58) 458 291; Code LC; Year Founded 1954. LIDCA is formed at Barranquilla in early 1954 by Alfonso R. Aria. The first of what would eventually comprise a fleet of 11 Curtiss C-46s and 3 Fairchild C-82s is assembled and all-cargo operations are started to Colombian and Caribbean destinations. Bogota also serves as a terminus.
A Curtiss C-46D with two crew is lost near Medellin on November 24; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities.
A decade and a half following its start-up, the airline shares the fate of others attempting success in the Latin American air freight business—it shuts down. The suspension is only temporary as services are resumed.
During the early 1980s, the fleet includes 2 each Douglas DC-9-54Fs and 2 DC-6s. Destinations visited include Bogota, Miami, Cali, Cartagena, and Medellin.
LIDCA is not immune to the rash of Cuban hijackings in this time period. En route from Barranquilla to Bogota on October 2, 1984, a DC-8-54F is seized on the ground during a stop at Cartagena. The gunman, who has other family members in tow, requires that the freighter be diverted to Havana.
Flights continue through the remainder of the decade and the next. Orlando Donado is president and the company operates 3 Douglas DC-8-54Fs to Caribbean destinations.
LIDER TAXI AEREO, S. A.: Rua Haroldo Paranhos S/Nr., Aerop-uerto de Congenhas, Sao Paulo, 04357-060, Brazil; Phone 55 (247) 623 202; Fax 55 (247) 622 039; Year Founded 1958. Jose Alfonso As-sumpcao founds what will eventually become Latin America’s largest air taxi service at Belo Horizonte (capital of Minas Gerais State) during the summer of 1958. On demand service (passenger, cargo, and charter) begins from Aeroporto de Pampulha with 3 Cessna 170s on November 14.
During 1959-1961 the fleet is increased by 12 aircraft, with Cessna 180s and 182s predominating. The operator’s first hanger is opened at its Belo Horizonte base in 1962 and three Aero Commander 500Bs join the fleet. In 1963-1967, the Aero complement grows to 12 and charter services are maintained to such destinations as Belem, Brasilia, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro.
A Learjet is added to the fleet in 1968 and during 1969-1971, bases are opened at Belem, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, and Manaus. Four additional Gates Learjets are acquired. A sales division is formed in 1972 and Assumpcao becomes the exclusive Learjet distributor in Brazil and, later, Paraguay. A helicopter division is formed in 1973.
In 1974-1980 , as additional Learjets are acquired, the helicopter fleet, comprising mostly Bell types for which Assumpcao also becomes sole Brazilian distributor, is employed in support of the Petrobas state oil industry operating offshore and in the Amazon region. Enplanements in 1981 are 113,464 and due to economic recession, 98,537 in 1982.
In 1983, Lider helicopters are leased to Globe TV, which in turn begins an extensive advertising campaign on behalf of the charter carrier. In the middle 1980s, the fleet grows to comprise 7 Aero Commanders, 8 Learjet 35s, 2 Learjet 55s, 8 Bell 212s, 4 Bell 205s, 14 Bell 206s, and 5 Bell 222s. Airline employment exceeds 650 and the extensive operations built up are maintained throughout the remainder of the decade. Unhappily, as the Brazilian economy declines into chaos, so does traffic, which is off 60% by the end of 1989.
Government approval is received in July 1990 for the establishment of new scheduled domestic passenger and cargo services throughout the country under the name Air Brasil. In April 1991, LTA, hoping to beat competitors in the introduction of jetliners on the Rio-Sao Paulo air bridge, establishes its new Air Brazil, S. A. subsidiary.
Three British Aerospace BAe 146-200s are acquired, but VARIG Brazilian Airlines (Viacao Aerea Rio Grandense, S. A.), VASP (Via-cao Aerea Sao Paulo, S. A.), and Transbrasil, S. A. (Linhas Aereas Transbrasil) replace their Electras more quickly than anticipated. Consequently, Lider withdraws its backing in December and Air Brazil, S. A. never gets off the ground.
Unscheduled air taxi and rotary-wing work is continued during the remainder of the decade. Managing Director Paulo Assumpcao oversees a fixed-wing fleet that includes 6 Beech 400A Beechjets, 4 Learjet 55 Longhorns, and 3 Learjet 35 Century 3s. The helicopter complement contains 6 Bell 206B JetRangers, 3 Bell 206L LongRangers, 6 Bell 212s, 4 Bell 414s, and 6 Sikorsky S-76 Spirit IIs.
LIETUVA AIR COMPANY, A. B. (AIR LITHUANIA, LTD.): 132 Valveriu Street, Karmetava Airport, Kaunas, 3018, Lithuania; Phone 370 (7) 291 770; Fax 370 (7) 226 030; Http://www. airlit huania. lt; Code TT; Year Founded 1991. A new national airline is established on September 13, 1991 from the former Kaunas subdivision of Aeroflot Soviet Airlines to provide nonscheduled domestic flights. Services are inaugurated later in the day with a fleet of 6 Yakovlev Yak-40s.
The owned fleet is increased in April 1992 by the addition of a Tupolev Tu-134A. A Tupolev Tu-154B is leased during the summer to operate charters to Stambul.
Enplanements for the year total 5,894.
In 1993, Chairman Kestutis Aurila oversees a workforce of 206.
The first regularly scheduled regional nonstop return flight by this company occurs on February 12 over a route from Kaunas to Budapest. Scheduled return service is introduced from Kaunas to Prague in April, with a new roundtrip service added in June from Kaunas to Kristianstad via Palanga. Frequencies from Kaunas to Helsinki commence in August, with roundtrips from Kaunas to Hamburg via Palanga beginning in November.
Passenger boardings this year increase to 6,047.
Airline employment is reduced by six workers in 1994. Orders are placed for two Fokker F.27-200s, with options taken on two others. Scheduled roundtrips are launched in September from Kaunas to Oslo.
Passenger traffic doubles during these 12 months, with customer bookings increasing 95.9% to 27,209. A total of 46 tons of cargo are also flown.
Airline employment stands at 200 in 1995. The fleet includes 6 Yak 40s, 1 Tu-134A, and 2 F.27-200s. Destinations visited include Budapest, Hamburg, Kristianstad, Oslo, Palanga, Poprad, Tatry, and Prague.
On July 17, the state-owned carrier is reorganized into a joint-stock company.
Enplanements climb 38.6% to 37,709, while 153.4 tons of goods are also transported.
Ten new employees are hired in 1996. To meet customer need, a bus service is initiated between Palanga Airport and Klaipeda, Kaunas Airport, and Vilnius.
In April, regularly scheduled roundtrips are started from Kaunas to Tallinn via Palanga. The service from Kaunas to Oslo is rerouted in August to fly from Kaunas to Oslo via Palanga. New roundtrips are launched in November from Kaunas to Billund via Palanga.
Despite the new service initiation, traffic falls badly, dropping 8% to 34,320 passengers flown. Freight is also off, with only 78.2 tons flown.
An Aero International (Regional) ATR42-320 is leased during the first quarter of 1997. On February 11, the Lithuanian government declares its intentions to privatize both of its carriers starting in the fall of 1998.
Following delivery of the ATR42-320 in April, it is placed into service to Kristianstad from Kaunas, and Palanga. With the start of the summer vacation schedule, long-haul charters are operated to Palma de Mallorca in Spain and Varna in Bulgaria.
In June, the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport approves a plan to merge the company with Lithuanian Airlines, A. B. On July 9, it is announced that Lietuva will first be merged with another small carrier, Vilnius-based Lietuvos Aviolinjas, Ltd.
During the summer, two Yak-40s are leased out. Meanwhile, the number of weekly flights to Budapest, as well as to Billund and Osla, is increased from two to three.
Rather than merge Air Lithuania into Lithuanian Airlines, A. B., the former becomes a subsidiary on September 11. Although its shares are turned over to the other carrier, it retains its identity and is allowed to function as a regional operator.
Passenger boardings for the year accelerate 29.3% to 44,363. Cargo traffic, however, declines, with only 75.3 tons flown.
Airline employment stands at 178 in 1998. During the summer, the numbers of weekly flights from Kaunas are again increased—to Billund from three to five, Kristianstad from five to six, and Prague from two to three.
The carrier now offers a total of 27 weekly departures to 6 destinations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, and Denmark.
On August 17, Tomas Laurinaitis is appointed director general as the company structure is somewhat changed. A new passenger-handling department is created at Kaunas Airport and begins operations in September.
Flights to Oslo are switched from the old airport at Fornebu to the new location 47 km. N of the city. Thrice-weekly Yak-40 roundtrips begin from Palanga to Moscow on October 22.
Customer bookings climb 8.2% to 48,000. Figures reveal that 50.1 tons of goods have also been transported.
A second ATR42-320 is placed into service in January 1999. Thrice-weekly roundtrips commence on October 31 from Kaunas to Cologne and Bonn.
Enplanements for the year total 48,000.
A total of 173 workers are employed at the beginning of 2000.
LIGACOES AEREAS REGIONAIS, S. A. (LAR). See LAR TRANSREGIONAL, S. A.
LIGNE AERIENNE ROI-ALBERT, S. A. (LARA): Belgium (19201922). In the Belgian Congo, Syndicat National Pour I’Etude des Transport Aeriens, S. A. (SNETA) joins with the aerial survey operator Comite d’Etudes Pour le Navigation Aerienne au Congo, S. A. (CENAC) under the joint title Ligne Aerienne du Roi Albert, S. A. (LARA) on July 1, 1920. The experimental east to west air service is named in honor of the king of Belgium. Levy-Lepan R three-seat flying boats are employed to launch the first segment of a route between the Congolese towns of Leopoldville and Stanleyville, flying from the former destination as far as Ngombe. This is the first intra-African air service.
Despite the irksome necessity of reattaching the aircraft’s fabric after each flight, the Ngombe end of the Congo service is extended by the little pusher biplanes to Lisala on March 3, 1921. During the summer, the 1,078-mile Stanleyville route is finished and opened.
The combined LARA service is completed on June 7, 1922; in two years of operations, 95 passengers and 4,400 pounds of mail and freight are transported between the 4 towns on the Leopoldville-Stanleyville route.
To combine and upgrade both the Congolese and European operations, the Belgian government takes over SNETA’s assets on May 23, 1923 and forms them into the new state airline, Societe Anonyme Belge d’Exploitation de la Navigation Aerienne—Sabena.
LIGNES AERIENNE SEYCHELLES, LTD. See LAS (LIGNES AERIENNE SEYCHELLES, LTD.)
LIGNES AERIENNES CONGOLAISES, S. A. (LAC): BP 10120, Airport de N’Djili, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Phone 243 (12) 20 874; Fax 243 (12) 20 964; Code QC; Year Founded 1997. In early May 1997, following the overthrow of the government of Zaire by rebel forces under Desire Kabila, the new Congo
Republic is established. In April, the new transport minister, Aubert Mukendi, who had headed Air Congo, S. A. (2) between 1964-1968, proposes that a new airline to succeed the former flag carrier, Air Zaire, S. A. be established. He suggests that the company be named Congo Airways, S. A.
President Kabila directs Mukendi to turn the project over to the chief executive’s personal pilot, Capt. Paul Mukandila. For a variety of reasons, including the start-up of competing Zaire Express, S. A., which has claimed Air Zaire, S. A.’s air traffic rights, the Congo Airways scheme is dropped.
Instead, a new national airline, Lignes Aerienns Congolaises, S. A. is established, with Mukendi as president. The company name, incidentally, translates as Congo Airlines; the same name, in English, will later be employed by Zaire Express, S. A. Most of the previous 2,500-person workforce is rehired, many or most of whom had not been paid a salary since 1993-1994. All uniforms worn are former Air Zaire, S. A. outfits, with a few new patches.
In a show of support to the new government, the government of Rwanda, which had seized Air Zaire, S. A.’s last operational B-737-298C, Lac Upemba, in April 1996, now returns the aircraft to Kinshasa’s N’Djili Airport for overhaul and repainting. Air Zaire, S. A.’s second B-737-298C, Lac Tumba, and Douglas DC-8-54, inoperable at Kinshasa, begin overhaul and repainting as well. The new livery will replace the previous white, red, and green color scheme with a white fuselage and a blue tail, with a large centered yellow star and six smaller ones just inside the rear edge.
On September 22, the Xinhau New Agency of China reports that the company has announced that it will resume passenger and cargo flights to Lagos on October 1. Although the substance of the dispatch is correct, the service start-up date is off by two months.
When the B-737-298C Lac Upemba returned from Rwanda is ready, it undertakes the new carrier’s first service on November 1 on behalf of the government; the inaugural flight visits Bukavu and Goma. The first scheduled public service begins on November 26 from Kinshasa to Mbuji-Mayi, Kisangani, and Lubumbashi.
International service commences on December 1 with regular flights to Lagos and Luanda; flights to Lome start on December 5. At year’s end, President Mukandila is able to proudly announce that all of his employees have been paid for their work since November 1.
In need of freight capacity and with the DC-8-54 still in the shop, LAC wet-leases a B-707-324C from Angola Air Charter, S. A. in early January 1998. Cargo flights commence on January 25 transporting food supplies on behalf of the UN.
Electing to discontinue cooperation with his Ugandan and Rwandan allies, leader Kabila orders the last of their troops out of the country in July.
A renewed civil war breaks out on August 2 and has a significant impact on the airline’s schedule. The B-707-348C Stratofreighter of Congo Airlines, S. A. (3) is seized on the ground at Goma as the fighting begins, along with a chartered LAC B-707F.
On August 4, Tutsi rebels under Comdr. Jean-Pierre Ondekane and Rwandan soldiers seize the airport at Kisangani. The facility is reportedly recaptured six days later.
Angola and Zimbabwe now begin to intervene in the fighting on behalf of the Kabila government. Rwanda, meanwhile, covertly employs a pair of B-727s to airlift troops and equipment from Goma to Kitona AFB, near the Atlantic Ocean. Uganda joins Rwanda in threatening to intervene openly in an effort to protect their own long-term interests. Angolan troops capture Kitona AFB on August 23.
President Kabila also receives support from Sudan and Chad, while Burundi also assists his opponents.
A number of charter pilots are also captured and these are required to fly military equipment and troops from Uganda and Rwanda to rebel positions in the eastern part of the country. In addition, the Stratoliners haul freedom fighters from their strongholds to points in the west, where they battle for towns held by forces loyal to Kabila.
Government forces suffer serious setbacks in their efforts to put down the rebellion and enemy forces move into the mineral-rich province of Eastern Kasai. Communities ranging in size from villages to cities the size of Kindu are surrounded, attacked, and often captured.
To assist in resupply efforts, anti-Kabila forces charge, the Kinshasa-government employs the civil airliners of LAC and CAL as troop transports. One of these, a CAL B-727-30, is shot down by a rebel missile over Kindu (440 km. SW of Goma) on October 10.
Flights continue during the remainder of the year and into 1999.
In January, a five-year code-sharing and wet-lease agreement is signed with City Bird, S. A. Under its terms, the Belgian new entrant will fly passengers and cargo between Europe and Kinshasa on a weekly basis, using LAC flight codes. The arrangement will allow LAC to resume international air links abandoned in 1992, with passenger services starting in May and A300-600F freighter flights beginning in summer.
A public row between City Bird and Sabena Belgian World Airlines, S. A. erupts in Brussels on April 27 over City Bird’s month-old dualdesignator pact with LAC. Claiming that the new arrangement is a surprise action that will damage the pioneer line, which operates between Brussels and Kinshasa four times a week, Sabena demands $9.22 million in damages. It also indicates that it is seeking an arbitration ruling that City Bird’s actions constitute a unilateral termination on its part of the commercial arrangement with Sabena.
City Bird, S. A. President/CEO Victor Hasson calls a news conference to rebut the Sabena action. Hasson complains that Sabena had not wanted the LAC link in the first place and given its 11.2% stake and seat on the City Bird board, should have known about it. Both companies, which do not suspend their existing pact, indicate that there are no plans to terminate their cooperation agreement and acknowledge that arbitration may take six months to a year.
The wet-lease pact with City Bird, S. A. begins on May 17. Weekly B-767-339ER roundtrips, conducted in the manner of those launched by City Bird with Luxair (Luxembourg Airlines, S. A.) at the end of March, are undertaken between Brussels and Kinshasa.
AirlinersOnline. Com reports on September 23, 2000, that LAC has acquired a DC-10-30 previously operated by AVENSA (Aerovias Vene-zolanas, S. A.).
During October, arrangements are concluded between the company and Air Zimbabwe Corporation under which the latter would begin to service internal Democratic Republic of the Congo routes for the planeless Congolese airline.
The new arrangement on behalf of LAC begins on November 21, as wet-leased Air Zimbabwe aircraft operate roundtrip from Harare to Lumbumbashi, Mbujimayhi, and Kinshasa. The pact between the two companies is further extended on December 7 when Air Zimbabwe takes over the moribund international LAC frequencies to Paris and Brussels.
LIGNES AERIENNES FARMAN, S. A.: France (1919-1922). On
February 8, 1919, the Farman brothers sponsor the first Paris-London proving flight. An F-60 Goliath with 12 military passengers, piloted by their chief test pilot Lt. Lucien Bossoutrot, flies form the Toussus le Noble Airport near Paris to the British airfield at Kenley and on to London (Croydon). For many years, the trip will, erroneously, be hailed as the first international flight in Europe.
The feat is duplicated two days later when Bossoutrot employs a converted Caudron C.23 bomber to fly five journalists on a prescheduled proving flight between Paris and Brussels. A scheduled weekly 2 hr. 30 min. Paris-Brussels F-60 service starts on March 22. At the completion of the third flight on April 6, Belgian customs officials examine the passengers and their possessions—the first customs check in the history of air transport.
Proving flights are made to Casablanca and Etienne between August 11-16. During the first day, pilot Bossoutrot, flying a Farman Goliath, sets a distance record: 1,273 nonstop miles in 18 hrs. 23 min.
On August 13, regularly scheduled Paris-Copenhagen flights commence. The pioneer carrier is officially registered on August 26. Regularly scheduled Paris-London frequencies are inaugurated in September.
Employing twin-engine Farman F-50Ps, a Paris-Brussels route is opened to regular service on July 1, 1920; the route is extended to Amsterdam on May 17, 1921. In 1922, the company is renamed Societe Generale de Transport Aerien, S. A. (SGTA).
LIGNES AERIENNES FELOU, S. A.: Kayes, Mali; Year Founded 2000. LAF is established at Kayes in the fall of 2000 to offer all-cargo services. Revenue flights to Bamako begin with a lone Antonov An-24RV leased from Gomelavia.
LIGNES AERIENNES LATECOERE. See AEROPOSTALE: COMPAGNIE GENERALE AEROPOSTALE, S. A. (1)
LIGNES AERIENNES LIBANAISES, S. A.L. (AIR LIBAN). See AIR LIBAN, S. A.L.
LIGNES AERIENNES NORD-AFRICAINES, S. A. See REGIE AIR AFRIQUE, S. A.
LIGNES D’ORIENT, S. A. See AIR ORIENT, S. A.; AIR UNION, S. A.
LIGNES NATIONALES AERIENNES CONGOLAISES. See LINA CONGO
LIMBERG AIRWAYS, B. V.: The Netherlands (1973-1978). Organized at Maastricht in early 1973, this Dutch operator inaugurates twice-daily scheduled Fokker F.27 flights to London (LGW) on September 29. These services are discontinued in March 1974 and the company undergoes a period of reorganization. Revenue operations are relaunched in early 1975; worldwide charter flights are undertaken in cooperation with Transmeridian Air Cargo, Ltd. The arrangement continues for four years until terminated in spring 1978, at which time Limberg Airways, B. V. stops flying.
LINA CONGO (LIGNES NATIONALES AERIENNES CONGO-LAISES, S. A.): PB 2203, Brazzaville, Congo; Phone 242 813 065; Fax 242 828 034; Code GC; Year Founded 1965. After buying out all the remaining UTA French Airlines, S. A. financial interest, the privately owned Air Congo (Brazzaville), S. A. is reformed by the government in August 1965. To avoid the confusion with the flag line of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the new airline is named Lina Congo.
Operations to previously served destinations are maintained throughout the remainder of the decade, particularly over the triangle-shaped network linking Point-Noire with Brazzaville and the Gabonese city of Moanda.
During the late 1960s, Director General Aime Portella’s fleet comprises 1 leased Douglas DC-6B and 3 DC-3s. Scheduled flights are undertaken from Brazzaville’s Maya Maya Airport to Djambala, Doliie, Fort Rousset, Impfondo, Jacob, Kelle, Loukolela, Makoua, Ouesso, and Pointe-Noire.
Two Antonov An-24s are received from the Soviet Union in 1970 and fly local routes in central Africa and occasionally to Paris (Le Bourget). By 1973, both have been taken over by the air force. Enplanements in 1974 reach 54,948.
Airline employment in 1975 is 219. The carrier’s DC-6B and DC-3s are now withdrawn in favor of two Fokker F.27-600s, two de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300s, a Fokker F.28, and a Nord 262. Service is undertaken to seven new destinations bringing the number of stops within the route network to 22. New marketing initiatives are now begun. Passenger boardings accelerate 27.7% to 76,000.
Scheduled service is inaugurated to the Angolan city of Luanda in March 1976.
Operations continue apace during the remainder of the decade. During the early 1980s, one F.27-600 is withdrawn and is replaced by a Fokker F.28-1000 and a leased Boeing 737-2Q5CA. Additional destinations added to the system by the middle of the decade include Boundji, Epena, Ewo, Loubomo, Mossendjo, Okoyo, Owanda, Sibiti, Souanke, and Zanaga; the Brazzaville-Pointe-Noire connection is maintained by daily jetliner service.
In January 1987, the carrier contracts with Cameroon Airlines for the heavy maintenance of its B-737-2Q5CA. The Boeing is withdrawn in 1988 and in August an agreement is signed with Air Gabon for the initiation in the fall of a pooled operation over the Pointe-Noire-Libreville route.
The fleet in 1989 comprises 1 Fokker F.28-1000, 1 Friendship, and 2 Twin Otters. Another B-737-2Q5CA is leased in late 1990 and is employed in early 1991 to inaugurate an international service to Bangui.
In 1992, Director General Jean Jacques Ontsa’s company employs 250 workers. One of the Twin Otters, with three crew and five passengers en route to Brazzaville on March 12, crashes at Etsouali in a thunderstorm (three dead).
The fleet in 1993 includes 1 each B-737-2Q5CA, DHC-6-300, and F.28-1000. The Boeing is subleased to Air Afrique, S. A. and services linking Brazzaville to Loubomo and Pointe-Noire are provided by the remaining three aircraft. An F.27-600C is leased from the French carrier Air Jet, S. A. in 1994.
The Air Afrique, S. A. lease continues in 1995 and in 1996 the government contracts with Aviation Capital Partners to privatize the company and help develop its operations. This is accomplished during the remainder of the decade. On the last day of 2000, a Boeing 727-217 is leased from Air Exchange.
LINAIR HUNGARIAN REGIONAL AIRLINES, LTD.: 1675 Budapest, P. O. Box 53, Ferihegy, Airport Terminal 1, H-1675, Hungary; Phone 36 (1) 296-7791; Fax 36 (1) 296-7891; Http://www. linair. hu; Code LIN; Year Founded 1995. Privately owned LinAir is set up at Budapest in 1995 to operate scheduled third-level commuter services to domestic points near the capital city. Tamas Kovacs is managing director and he begins revenue operations with a single Yakovlev Yak-40 on several short-haul routes previously operated by MALEV Hungarian Airlines.
Flights continue in 1996-1998. During the latter year, a homepage is opened on the Internet’s World Wide Web. By 1999, the fleet has been increased to include two more Yak-40s, which now offer charter flights, many for businessmen, to several European cities and Mideast destinations.
A total of 31 workers are employed at the beginning of 2000. Twelve-times-a-week roundtrips commence on July 28 between Budapest and Zagreb, Croatia. The company’s two Yak-40s operate this service as MALEV Partner flights on behalf of the Hungarian major.
LINCOLN AIRLINES (PTY.), LTD.: Australia (1987-1997). Malcolm J. Catt founds Lincoln at Port Lincoln, South Australia, in 1987 to offer scheduled passenger and cargo flights to Adelaide. Operations commence and continue with 1 Embraer EMB-110P Bandeirante and 2 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains.
Operations continue apace in 1988-1990 and in 1991-1992 the revised fleet of 2 Chieftains and 1 each Embraer and Cessna 402 makes 28 weekly roundtrips between Port Lincoln and Adelaide.
Traffic requires addition of a second Bandeirante in 1993 and en-planements in 1994 total 30,000. Customer bookings dip slightly in 1995, to 29,159.
Operations continue apace in 1996-1997 as the two Bandeirantes continue the same number of weekly frequencies as they had at the beginning of the decade. At the end of the latter year, the company is merged with Augusta Airways (Pty.), Ltd. to form Airlines of South Australia (Pty.), Ltd. (2).
LINEAAEREA IMPERIAL, S. A. See LAI (LINEAAEREAIMPE-RIAL, S. A.)
LINEA AEREA SACIFIC, S. A. See LASA (LINEA AEREA SA-CIFIC, S. A.)
LINEA AEROPOSTAL VENEZOLANA, S. A. See LAV (VENEZUELAN AIRLINES, S. A.)
LINEADE AVIACION CONDOR TAMPA, S. A.: Peru (1935-1941).
Acting on behalf of New York-based Tampa-New Orleans-Tampico Air Lines, Inc., Hugh Wells forms Condor Peruana de Aviacion, S. A.
At Lima on October 7, 1935. Two years will transpire until the first step can be taken to meet the company’s plans for a multistop New Or-leans-Buenos Aires route.
Wells receives Peruvian permission to import four Curtiss BT.32 Condors on February 23, 1937, but is restricted from employing them on a transcontinental route for fear that they might be diverted into the Chaco War.
For a year, Wells’ twin-engine biplanes do charter work. Cargo is flown to remote towns and mining communities, photographic surveys are undertaken, and tobacco is hauled from Andean towns like Tarapoto down to Lima.
In 1938, the company is reorganized and renamed to show its connection with the American airline. Multistop scheduled services are inaugurated from Lima up to Iquitos via Huanuco, Tarapoto, and Yurimaguas. In 1939 the capital city is linked for the first time to Cuzco, 13,000 feet up in the Andes.
Unable to compete, unsubsidized, against Faucett Peruvian Airlines, S. A. or Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA), despite gallant efforts in 1940, Condor Tampa is forced to cease scheduled revenue flights in April 1941. All company assets are commandeered by the government on May 23.
LINEA INTERNACIONAL AEREA, S. A.: Ecuador (1957-1959).
LIA is set up at Guayaquil in 1957 to operate all-cargo charters throughout the country. Two Curtiss C-46 Commandos are acquired during the first half of 1958 and are employed to launch revenue services in September. Unable to achieve economic viability, the company shuts its doors within a year.
LINEA TURISTICA AEROTUY, S. A. See AEROTUY (LINEA TURISTICAAEROTUY, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS ALLEGRO, S. A. See ALLEGRO (LINEAS AEREAS ALLEGRO, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS AZTECA, S. A. de C. V. See TAESA (TRANS-PORTES AEREOS EJECUTIVOS, S. A. de C. V.)
LINEAS AEREAS CANARIAS, S. A. (LAC): Spain (1985-1991).
LAC is formed in the Canary Islands in 1985 to provide services from Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife. While permission is sought from the government to launch scheduled operations, the new entrant offers charter flights with a pair of Vickers Viscount 800s purchased from British Air Ferries, Ltd.
Authority for scheduled flights is not received and charter operations continue apace in 1986-1988. During these years, the Viscounts are replaced by five leased McDonnell Douglas MD-83s; the first, christened Isla de Lanzarote, arrives at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in October 1987.
Enplanements in 1989 total 752,000. Operations continue apace in 1990 and the company is merged into Meridiana Air, S. A. on May 1, 1991.
LINEAS AEREAS CANEDO, LTDA.: Aeropuerto Jorge Wilster-man Rampa Oeste, P. O. Box 1721, Cochabamba, Bolivia; Phone 591
(42) 54001; Fax 591 (42) 54001; Year Founded 1981. LAC is set up at
Santa Cruz-El Trompillo in 1981 to offer domestic cargo and passenger charters. Operations commence with 4 Douglas DC-3s, one of which began life with Pennsylvania-Central Air Lines in 1939. Destinations visited include Guayaramerin, Magdalena, San Joaquin, San Ramon, and Santa Ana. The following year, the company takes over the Trinidad-Guayaramerin route of LAB (Lloyd Aero Boliviano, S. A.).
Flights continue throughout the decade.
During the early 1990s and because of the recession that affects airlines everywhere, the company elects to sell its DC-3s and revert to lightplanes, adding in their place three Aero Commanders. Business begins to improve after 1995. Service continues in 1996-1997, during which time the company’s base is moved to Cochabamba in the northern part of Bolivia.
Rolando Canedo Lopez remains president in 1998 and he now flies a pair of former USAF Convair C-13 IDs (military version of the CV-440), among the last of their type in commercial operation anywhere in the world. These are joined in the next two years by a CV-440 painstakingly repaired after its crash while in service with NEBA (North East Bolivian Airways, Ltda.).
LINEAS AEREAS COSTARRICENSES, S. A. See LACSA (LINEAS AEREAS COSTARRICENSES, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS DE CALIFORNIA, S. A. de C. V.: Mexico (19581960). Founded by Juan Tighman at Mexico City in 1958, this small concern operates 2 Curtiss C-46 Commandos on nonscheduled freight services to Ensenada, California, via Tepic and Durango. Flights cease by 1960.
LINEAS AEREAS DE GUINEA ECUATORIAL, S. A. See LAGE (LINEAS AEREAS DE GUINEA ECUATORIAL, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS DEL CARIBE, LTDA. See LADECA (LINEAS AEREAS DEL CARIBE, LTDA.)
LINEAS AEREAS DEL CARIBE, S. A. See LAC (LINEAS AEREAS DE CARIBE, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS DEL CENTRO, S. A. de C. V.: Mexico (19751982). This third-level airline is formed at Mexico City in 1975 to offer scheduled services to Colima and Guadalajara. In addition, the company’s single Convair CV-440 and Douglas DC-3 undertake regularly appointed flights to Morelia, Uruapan, Apatzingan, and Lazara Cardenas in Michoacan Province.
Flights continue in 1976-1977, during which years the fleet is increased by the addition of a pair of de Havilland Canada DHC-6-100 Twin Otters. A chartered DHC-6-100 with 2 crew and 19 passengers crashes into mountainous terrain near Mexico City on September 9, 1978 (18 dead).
Unable to remain viable in the face of rising fuel costs and the world economic recession of the early 1980s, the airline is forced into bankruptcy in 1982.
LINEAS AEREAS DEL ESTADO. See LADE (LINEAS AEREAS DEL ESTADO)
LINEAS AEREAS DEL ESTE, S. A. See LADESA (LINEAS AEREAS DEL ESTE, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS DEL PACIFICO, S. A. de C. V. See AERONAVES DE MEXICO, S. A. de C. V.
LINEAS AEREAS ENTRE RIOS, S. A. See LAER (LINEAS AEREAS ENTRE RIOS, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS JESUS SARABIA, S. A. See TACH (TRANS-PORTES AEREOS DE CHIAPAS, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS LA TUR, S. A. See LATUR (LINEAS AEREAS LATUR, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS LA URRACA, S. A. See LA URRACA (LINEAS AEREAS LA URRACA, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS MIXTECAS, S. A. de C. V.: Mexico (1956-1970).
This small commuter is formed at Huajuapan in the state of Oaxaca in 1956. Employing single-engine smallplanes, the little carrier offers flights to various destinations in Oaxaca as well as in the state of Guerrero.
As is the case for many small airlines facing competition from the third-level operation established by Aeronaves de Mexico, S. A. de C. V., it cannot survive financially and goes out of business in 1970.
LINEAS AEREAS NACIONALES, S. A.: Honduras (1963-1975).
Having begun in 1963 as a La Ceiba-based air taxi charter operation, LANSA steps up to scheduled passenger and freight flights in 1967. Within three years, the company is operating four Douglas DC-3s on flights around the country.
The company’s big opportunity arrives in November 1972 when the U. S. CAB grants authority for all-freight services from San Pedro Sula to Miami via Grand Cayman, Belize, and Cozumel. A Curtiss C-46 Commando and a Douglas DC-4 are acquired and the new route is inaugurated in early 1973.
The carrier suspends services in April 1975 as the result of technical problems.
LINEAS AEREAS NACIONALES, S. A. See also LANSA (LINEAS AEREAS NACIONALES, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS NAVARRAS, S. A.: Garcia Ximenez 3, 1st Floor, Pampiona, E-31002, Spain; Phone 34 (48) 212 852; Fax 34 (48) 212 569; Http://www. irinfo. es/aviacion/navarra. html; Code ZH; Year Founded 1994. The Spanish carrier Air Truck, S. A., with the government district of Navarre, establishes this commuter subsidiary in late 1994. Orders are placed for three Avions de Transport Regional ATR 42320s; these arrive during the spring and summer of 1995 and enter third-level service under contract from the parent. Destinations visited include Granada and Madrid.
In June 1996, Air Truck is renamed Air Track, S. A.; however, this corporate move has no impact whatsoever upon this regional associate, which operates as before.
Flights continue in 1997-2000. Markets served include Barcelona, Granada, Madrid, Munich, Pampiona, and San Sebastian.
LINEAS AEREAS PARAGUAYAS, S. A. See LAP PARAGUAYAN AIRLINES (LINEAS AEREAS PARAGUAYAS, S. A.)
LINEAS AEREAS PATAGONIAS ARGENTINAS, S. R.L. See LAPA (LINEAS AEREAS PATAGONIAS ARGENTINAS, S. R.L.)
LINEAS AEREAS POSTALES ESPANOLAS, S. A. (LAPE): Spain (1932-1939). Following the failure of CLASSA in April 1932, this new carrier is formed by the Spanish Republic to take over its routes. Employing the Ford Tri-Motor, Junkers G.24s, Rohrbach Rolands, and Fokker F-VII/3ms of its predecessor, LAPE begins a program of both route and fleet expansion. Flights begin to Bordeaux and Paris and the company joins IATA. Regularly scheduled flights from Madrid to the Canary Islands are restarted in 1933, with stopovers in several North African cities.
Another Rohrbach Roland is received from Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DHL) in 1934. Two ex-DHL Junkers Ju-52/3ms, the Lothar von Richthofen and Emil Thuy, will be delivered in the next two years.
World History
