Founded at Durango in 1990, President Fernando Nunez’s carrier offers scheduled passenger and cargo services to surrounding states as well as various small stops in Durango state. Charters and contract services are also undertaken with a fleet comprising four Japanese-made NAAC YS-11-100s.
Unable to maintain its viability, the carrier is forced to cease flying in early 1993.
AEROSMITH AVIATION: 500 Sally Ride Dr., Concord, California, 94520, United States, Phone (510) 686-6060; Fax (510) 686-6517; Year Founded 1991. Aerosmith is set up by its president, Michael A. Smith, at Buchanan Field in Concord, California, 1991, to offer passenger charters, which the company is certified to fly anywhere from Alaska to Central America. Operations continue with 1 Beech Super King Air 200 and 2 King Air 90s.
AEROSTAR: United States (1979-1984). Aerostar is organized at New Orleans in July 1979 as a subsidiary of the tour promoter, Professional Travel. Flight operations do not begin immediately. Early in 1981, three Boeing 727-100s are acquired and employed to commence passenger charters from Atlanta on June 19 to such destinations as Las Vegas and Mexico.
A total of 132,000 passengers are transported by December 31. Revenues total $2.27 million while expenses are held to $1.87 million. Profits, unusual in a startup operation, are generated: $401,000 (operating) and $171,000 net.
During 1982, the first full year, the nonscheduled operation is unable to generate as many bookings for the entire year than it had during its first six months. After only two years in operation, the company declares bankruptcy in July 1983; however, it continues flying until its three Boeings are repossessed in September.
Early in 1984, after new owners take over, operations are resumed, again with a single B-727-100. In May, Aerostar is purchased again, this time by Atlanta-based Flight International Group, which plans to establish its own charter business. For several months, while the latter awaits government approval for a merger, Aerostar is able to continue to offer charters under its own name. Late in the year, with DOT approval, Aerostar is renamed Flight International Airlines.
AEROSUCRE COLOMBIA (AEROSUCRE, S. A.): Terminal de Carga, Aeropuerto Ernesto Cortissoz, Barranquilla, AA23, Colombia; Phone 57 (58) 423 002; Fax 57 (58) 471 635; Code KR; Year Founded 1975. Captain Jorge Juan Carlos Solano Recio sets up this all-freight airline at Barranquilla in early 1975. Employing a fleet of unmodified, exmilitary freighters, including 4 Curtiss C-46s, 1 Douglas C-47 and 1 C-54, regularly scheduled services are inaugurated to Bogota and San Andres Island as well as Curacao and Aruba in the Netherlands Antilles.
A DC-6 is also leased for several months during 1976.
En route to Aruba on September 24, a C-46D disappears; although no wreckage is ever found, it is presumed that the freighter and its two crew members have crashed at sea.
During the remainder of the decade and into the 1980s, routes are opened to four additional domestic destinations: Cali, Cartagena, Medellin, and Pereira. The employee population grows to 65 and all of the previously owned American freighters are replaced by 2 Handley Page Dart-Herald 401s in 1981. The former British Air Ferries, Ltd. turboprops are followed into service during 1982 by a pair of Sud-Est SE-210 Caravelle XIRs acquired from a Spanish operator.
Flights continue in 1983-1986. There are two hull losses during these years.
En route from Barranquilla to Bogota on March 13, 1984, a C-46A with 4 crew and 2 passengers is forced by control problems to return to its point of origin, where it crashes on the runway while landing (4 dead).
As the result of “elevator stiffness,” the takeoff of an SE 210 Caravelle XIR from Arauca is aborted on November 27, 1986; the aircraft runs off the end of the runway and over a drainage ditch. Although the French-made freighter must be written off, there are no fatalities.
Flights continue without incident in 1987-1988.
Just after takeoff from Barranquilla on April 26, 1989, an SE-210 Car-avelle XIR freighter with five crew loses height and crashes into a row of houses; all aboard are killed, along with two people on the ground.
The second fatal crash of the year occurs on November 5 when a Dart Herald 401 freighter with 3 crew and 3 passengers crashes into a mountainside in dark and heavy rain near Chaparral, Colombia; again, there are no survivors.
The previous routes and services are maintained, frequencies are increased, and new routes are opened to additional Caribbean destinations during 1990. Worldwide charters are also flown and transport of freight is increased by the addition of two DC-6BFs.
While holding in the Malambo area on June 20, 1991, awaiting a weather change after a service from Barranquilla, one of the DC-6BFs with 18 passengers runs out of fuel and crashes (2 dead).
The main landing gear of an SE-210 Caravelle XIR collapses during takeoff on August 9, causing the jet freighter to veer off the runway and crash; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities.
In 1992-1998, the fleet, earlier reduced by 1 Dart-Herald, comprises, in addition to the Caravelles, 1 Boeing 727-21, B-727-59, and B-727-23F, all 3 of which have been purchased from AVIANCA Colombia Airlines, S. A. The company mission remains unchanged. Cargo traffic during the latter year totals 29.57 million FTKs. That figure nearly doubles in 1999 as 43.88 million FTKs are operated. Airline employment stands at 257 as the new millennium begins.
AEROSUN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES: United States (19811983). On November 15, 1981, Clearwater, Florida-based Red Carpet Flying Service, dba Red Carpet Airlines is renamed. In addition to charter flights, the reborn operator inaugurates scheduled passenger and cargo services linking its base with Key West and with Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac in the Cayman Islands. Daily roundtrip operations, undertaken with a fleet comprising 1 Douglas DC-3 and 2 Convair CV-440 Metropolitans, continue until a downturn in traffic and financial difficulties caused by the recession force closure in early 1983.
AEROSUR BOLIVIANO (COMPANIA BOLIVIANA DE AERO PRIVADO, S. A.): Calle Colon Esq Av Irala, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 3104, Bolivia; Phone 591 (3) 364 446; Fax 591 (3) 365 246; Code 5L; Year Founded 1992. A third-level carrier founded at Santa Cruz de la Sierra in April 1992, President Carlos Gonzalez-Weise’s regional scheduled company takes advantage of national airline deregulation by combining several charter operations. It begins to offer regularly advertised domestic frequencies on August 24 with a fleet of 8 Fairchild-Swearingen Metro IIIs. Aerosur receives two, leased British Aerospace BAe 146-100s late in the year.
Eight-times-per-day scheduled services are inaugurated in January 1993 from Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Cochabamba and La Paz. The fleet is increased during the year by the addition of a Let 410 and another Metro III.
Markets served grow to include: Camiri, Cobija, Cochabamba, Concepcion, Guayaramerin, La Paz, La Pedrera, Magdalena, Potosi, Puerto Suarez, Riberalta, San Borja, San Ignacio de Velasco, San Joaquin, San Javier, San Jose, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz Viru Viru, Sucre, Tarija, Trinidad, and Yacuiba.
At year’s end and into January 1994, the company acquires two Fairchild Metro 23s and three more Let 410s. The new U. S.-made aircraft and their predecessors now begin hub-and-spoke flights from Santa
Cruz. Employing a newly leased B-727-214 formerly operated by Pan American World Airways (1), international operations are launched during June to destinations in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. Enplane-ments for the year reach 550,000.
Operations continue apace in 1995. During the year, the company becomes the first in its region to introduce first - and business-class services on domestic flights. In September 1996, three former Skywest Airlines Metro IIIs are purchased from the aircraft manufacturer Embraer.
Oscar Alcocer is president in 1997-1999 and his workforce totals 398. Two more Boeing trimotors are acquired and annual revenues exceed $24 million.
Enplanements reach 347,000 in 1999 and 665,000 FTKs are operated. The workforce of the country’s largest domestic operator stands at 430 at the beginning of 2000.
A perceived threat to the carrier’s viability by new entrant TAM-Bolivia, S. A., 49% owned by the Brazilian carrier and given a Bolivian government operating permit in May 2000, brings a strike by the Aero-sur unions in June. In late July, as the TAM carrier prepares to launch Fokker 100 domestic services in August, the government opens a review of the nation’s airline situation. Suggestions are made that the two carriers merge or that an unspecified amount of AeroSur stock be sold to TAM-Bolivia.
AEROSVIT AIRLINES: 58A Shevchenko Blvd., Kiev, Ukraine; Phone (044) 246-5070; Fax (044) 246-5073; Http://www. aerosvit. com; Code VV; Year Founded 1994. Aerosvit is founded at Kiev during the first quarter of 1994 to offer charter service to Mediterranean destinations. Employing an Antonov An-24 and a Tupolev Tu-154, flights are started from the city’s Boryspil International Airport in April to Tel Aviv, Odessa, Thessaloniki, and Athens.
A dry-leased Boeing 737-2Q8A is acquired in October and is employed to introduce thrice-weekly roundtrips to Tel Aviv; a single nonstop roundtrip to Moscow also begins.
Between April and July 1995, weekly charters are launched from Simferopol to Gannover. In August, weekly flights begin from Kiev to Almaty, along with twice-weekly roundtrips to Ashgabad and Riga. Regularly scheduled flights from Kiev to Tel Aviv and to Thessaloniki via Odessa commence in December, along with connecting flights Dnipropetrovsk-Kiev-Tel Aviv.
Weekly flights begin in February 1996 from Dnipropetrovsk to Tel Aviv, along with connecting flights Donetsk-Kiev-Tel Aviv. Frequencies from Kiev to Riga are boosted to three in March, while weekly B-737-2Q8A roundtrips are introduced in April from Kiev to Ekaterinburg. Tu-154 return service is started in May from Simferopol to Tel Aviv. A second leased B-737-2Q8A is now acquired.
An-24 roundtrips are launched in February 1997 from Kiev to Kharkov, followed by An-24 return flights from Kiev to Lviv in March. The number of weekly roundtrips from Kiev to Tel Aviv is increased to four in April. In May, Kiev-Simferopol and Simferopol to Moscow return service is started, along with daily B-737-2Q8A roundtrips between Kiev and Moscow.
Under terms of a new code-sharing agreement with Olympic Airways, S. A., a flight from Kiev to Heraklion in Greece begins in June, while in July twice-weekly return flights are undertaken from Kiev to Malta and Ekaterinburg. Boeing 737-2Q8Aroundtrip service from Simferopol to Tel Aviv commences in October.
The number of B-737-2Q8A return flights from Kiev to Heraklion is boosted to two per week in August 1998, while roundtrips from Kiev to Tel Aviv are boosted to five per week. In the three years since 1996, the company has transported 420,000 passengers.
An owned B-737-2Q8A is acquired during the first quarter of 1999 and inaugurates the company’s new weekly return service from Kiev to Hurgada.
In May, thrice-weekly return flights from Kiev to St. Petersburg are introduced as is four-times-a-week roundtrips from Kiev to Budapest, the latter a dual-designator service with Malev Hungarian Airlines.
Also during the month, new weekly roundtrips are introduced between Kiev and Antalia, while frequencies from Kiev to Lyiv are boosted to six per week and to Larnaca to four per week.
Under a code-sharing agreement with Air Baltic Corporation, S. A., weekly roundtrips are launched in June from Kiev to Stockholm via Riga. The number of weekly roundtrips from Simferopol to Tel Aviv jump to two in July.
Enplanements for the year total 200,000.
One of the leased B-737-2Q8As is returned in February 2000 and replaced with a B-737-3Q8A. Code-sharing agreements are signed with Balkan Bulgarian Airlines and Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA) . Under terms of the pact, new twice-weekly return service is started from Kiev to Sofia in April.
Also during the spring, the number of weekly roundtrips between Kiev and Moscow are increased, via the Aeroflot pact, to 12, while weekly return services from Kiev to Budapest grows to 10.
In addition to 20 destinations in 13 nations and within the Ukraine, the company plans the introduction of regular direct flights during the summer to Helsinki.
A code-sharing agreement is signed with Estonian Air, A. S. on October 1 under which the two will jointly sell tickets for the Tallin to Kiev route that Estonian Air B-737-5Q8s fly thrice weekly.
AEROSWEET AIRLINES: 58-A Schevchenko Blvd., Kiev, 252032, Ukraine; Phone 380 (44) 220 1614; Fax 380 (44) 221 8707; http:// Www. aerosweet. com; Code VV; Year Founded 1994. Aerosweet is established at Kiev in 1994 to provide scheduled international services from the Ukraine to destinations in the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Central Asia, the Baltic region, and the CIS. The company name is a combination of aero and a play on the Ukranian word “swit,” which means “world.”
Shareholding is divided between local investors and an Israeli company, Caspi Aviation, Ltd. Revenue flights commence with a pair of Boeing 737-200s. They wear the national colors of pale blue and yellow.
Flights continue in 1995-1996. During these years, the company joins IATA. From Kiev, it regularly flies to Tel Aviv, Larnaca, Athens, Thessaloniki, Ekaterinbourg, Riga, Almaty, Akmola, Ashkabat, Lvov, Kharkov, and Simferopol.
Tel Aviv is also served from Odessa and Simferopol, while frequencies are also offered to Moscow from the second-named point.
Charter flights to Heraklion (Crete) and Malta begin in the spring of 1997. Simultaneously, twice-weekly roundtrip service is inaugurated from Kiev to St. Petersburg, via Moscow. The new route is flown in direct competition with St. Petersburg-based Aviation Enterprise Pulkovo (Pulkovo Airlines).
Frequencies must be cut back somewhat during the summer as one B-737-200 must be taken off line. A third “Baby Boeing” is received in October and, on November 1, all flights become nonsmoking.
Due to engine problems, Flight 241, a B-737-200A with 8 crew and 62 passengers and en route from Kiev to Thessaloniki, stops at Odessa on December 17 to change planes. When all are aboard, the Yak-42 departs south and, because of heavy traffic, is put into a holding pattern near Salonica. At this point, the aircraft disappears. A massive search is undertaken, during which a Greek Air Force C-130 Hercules with five crew, crashes, killing all aboard. Wreckage from the Russian aircraft is found on December 20 near Mount Olympus and there are no survivors.
Enplanements for the year total 157,423.
Flights continue without fanfare in 1998. Passenger boardings drop 8.1% to 135,000.
A total of 145,000 passenger are carried in 1999, while 548,000 FTKs are also operated. Two B-737s, one each Dash-35B and Dash-3Q8, are leased during the year.
During the first quarter of 2000, the number of B-737-200 weekly roundtrip frequencies from Kiev to Moscow are increased from seven to 10.
On August 9, a Greek court orders Lvov Airlines to pay $1.6 million to the relatives to two people killed in December 1997 when the Yak-42 they had chartered to Aerosweet crashed on approach to Thessaloniki.
Aerosweet takes delivery of its first Boeing 737-300 on September 1.
World History
