AERO CHASQUI, S. A.: Peru (1989-1991). AC is established at Lima in 1989 to offer domestic third-level services with 1 each Pilatus-Britten-Norman PBN-2T Islander and CASA C-212-200 Aviocar. Successful on the local level, the airline leases 1 each Boeing 727-27 and B-727-162 in 1990, employing them to inaugurate regional flights.
This expansion, unfortunately, occurs during a time of recession and as a result, the company is unable to generate traffic and income sufficient to continue beyond July 1991.
AERO COACH AVIATION INTERNATIONAL: United States (1981-1992). ACAI is founded at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in May 1981 to offer charter flights to West Palm Beach and to Georgetown in the Bahamas. Cessna 402 service begins in the fall. Three Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirantes are acquired in late 1982 and are employed to inaugurate regularly scheduled third-level frequencies in early 1983. New daily roundtrip destinations added include Gainesville and Miami, Florida, and North Eleuthers and Treasure Cay in the Bahamas.
Passenger enplanements for the year are 45,059.
Operations continue apace in 1984, and in 1985 the 60-employee small regional enplanes a total of 45,267 passengers. During these two years, frequencies are initiated to Bimini and Marsh Harbour.
By 1986, President T. P. Cartier’s company has replaced its Brazilian-made commuter liners with a total of 9 Cessna 402s. Passenger boardings jump 25% to 60,356. Twelve additional Cessna 402s are purchased throughout 1987, bringing the fleet total to 23. Customer bookings increase 69.7% to 102,451.
Airline employment stands at 60 in 1988 as a 24th Cessna 402 is acquired. Passenger boardings balloon 24.8% to 127,878.
The workforce is increased by 150% in 1989 to 150 and the number of Cessna 402s grows to 33.
Despite these preparations, customer bookings advance only 1.7% to 130,092.
There is no change in either the number of workers or aircraft in 1990; however, passenger boardings, due largely to recession, plunge by 9% to 105,318.
Two Cessna 402s are withdrawn in 1991 as prelude to the company’s collapse in 1992.
AERO COMMUTER AIRLINES: United States (1967-1969). Established at Long Beach, California, in the fall of 1967, ACA orders 8 de Havilland DHC-6-100 Twin Otters. It is quickly acquired by San Diego-based Westgate-California Corporation, which, in December, also takes over the assets of Catalina Air Lines, formerly Avalon Air Transport, and Los Angeles Airways. With the first of the Canadian turboprops, the carrier inaugurates scheduled services in December linking its base with Los Angeles and Catalina Island.
The following year, 1968, the route network grows to include stops at Burbank, Bakersfield, Palmdale, Apple Valley, Palm Springs, Fullerton, Santa Ana, Oceanside, and San Diego. The remainder of the Twin Otters enter service. Meanwhile negotiations are conducted throughout the year with Skymark, Cable Commuter, and Golden West which, in March 1969, merge to form the nation’s largest third-level operation, Golden West Airlines.
AERO CONDOR, S. A.: Juan de Arona 781, San Isidro, Lima 27, Peru; Phone 51 (14) 425663; Fax 51 (14) 429487; Http://www. ascinsa. com/AEROCONDOR; Code P2; Year Founded 1975. AC is
Formed at Lima in early 1975 to offer domestic passenger and charter flights. A fleet is established which includes 1 Beech King Air 90, 1 Beech B80 Queen Air, and such single-engine equipment as 2 Britten-Norman BN-2A Islanders, 1 Cessna 402C, 4 Cessna 172s, and 1 Piper PA-23 Aztec. Nonscheduled services are begun on September 10 to Puerto Maldonado, Nazca, Cuzco, Ica and other towns.
Services are maintained throughout the remainder of the decade and during the 1980s. Airline employment exceeds 80 workers and passenger boardings average 20,000 per year. The fleet is upgraded by the addition of 3 more King Airs. The company during this decade becomes well known for offering sight-seeing flights over Peru’s famous Nazca lines.
President Carlos Palacin acquires 2 Fairchild Metro IIIs for his fleet in 1992. Flights continue in 1993-1995, with a third Metro III arriving during the latter year.
A Cessna 208 Caravan I is purchased in 1996. Service is maintained without incident in 1997-1998.
During February 1999, a code-sharing arrangement is entered into with Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA). Under its terms, the company is able to provide its customers with twice-weekly return flights from Lima to Havana aboard the Russian carrier’s Il-96s.
AERO CONTINENTE, S. A.: Avenue Jose Pardo 651, Lima 18, Peru; Phone 51 (14) 242-4260; Fax 51 (14) 444-5014; Http://www. aerocontinente. com. pe; Code N6; Year Founded 1992. AC is established by Fernando Zevallos Gonzales at Tarapoto City on January 4, 1992 to offer nonscheduled passenger charters for companies dedicated to energy exploration in the northeast zone of the country, particularly Occidental Petroleum Corporation of Peru. Revenue flights commence on May 25 with a single leased Boeing 737-204. Business is sufficient to allow the carrier to purchase a B-737-281 in 1993.
A significant fleet expansion occurs in 1994; added by lease are 3 B-727-22s and 1 B-727-51 and, by purchase, 1 B-737-222 and B-737-247. Routes and services are expanded accordingly, with scheduled flights begun under the direction of President Fernando Zevallos.
Another B-747-247 is leased in 1995. AFokker F.27 is also acquired for domestic charters. During the year the government of Peru, convinced that the U. S. all-cargo airline Fine Air is involved in arms smuggling, bans it from making future flights into Lima. The move will have an impact on AC several years hence.
In 1996, a Fokker F.28-1000 Fellowship is purchased and 3 Boeings are leased to the Argentine charter operator Dinar Lineas Aereas, S. A. These include the B-727-22, the B-737-281, and 1 of the B-737-247s.
Having received intelligence that the airline has been operating its aircraft with “unsafe engines,” the U. S. Embassy in Lima prohibits all U. S. mission personnel from flying the airline as of August 23. Peruvian Transport Minister Elsa Carrera informs the media that the decision is “temporary” and that all engines in the fleet will be overhauled within 15-20 days, according to guidelines of the U. S. FAA.
Operations continue apace in 1997. Plans are made to lease a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1 are shelved after the Lima government, which is in the process of granting permission for the inauguration of daily U. S. flight, refuses to approve the airline’s use of the wide-body jetliner. Although that larger aircraft is not acquired, the company, during the spring of 1998, introduces a new color scheme. All of its 1996 safety concerns have, by now, been addressed.
Following the signing of a new bilateral air agreement between Peru and the U. S., Aero Continente, in July 1998, is designated the nation’s second international airline when it is given authority to operate daily B-727-22 return service between Lima and Miami. President Gonzales had originally sought 21 weekly frequencies and appeals the grant of only seven from new Transport Minister Antonio Paucar Carbajal. Meanwhile, noting that the B-727s on hand cannot fly nonstop to Florida and require a refueling visit to another Latin country, probably Panama, the airline delays.
A new color scheme is introduced, but it cannot hide yet another problem: the fact that Peru has been listed by the U. S. FAA as a Category I country in terms of safety concerns. At this point, rather than attempt to gain approval to compete with its own narrow-bodies, Aero Continente seeks an alliance with a U. S. carrier. Continental Airlines, which lost to Delta Air Lines in the race for a partnership with AeroPeru (Em-pressa Transporte de Aereos de Peru, S. A.), is the most likely candidate, but neither airline ever confirms talking to the other.
Meanwhile, during the summer, Fine Air moves to block the application by AC for U. S. authority to operate from Lima to Miami, asking that the U. S. DOT deny service until Peru allows Fine to resume services suspended earlier over the arms shipments. Even though the U. S. Drug Enforcement Agency is no longer investigating, Fine also revives allegations of drug trafficking by AC’s former owner, Fernando Zevallos Gonzales. The Peruvian line hires an attorney in Washington, D. C., to press its requests, which remain on hold at DOT through the end of the year.
Following the economic collapse of AeroPeru (Empresa Trans-portes de Aereos de Peru, S. A.) on March 10, 1999, AC becomes the nation’s largest remaining airline. It is reported in the next day’s issue of Lima’s El Comercio that ticket prices at the now leading national carrier have doubled overnight.
When AeroPeru halts its domestic services on March 14, Aero Conti-nente takes over the flag carrier’s more important domestic routes, including that to Peru’s top tourist destination of Cuzco.
Following the June 5 decision of Continental Airlines not to take an equity stake in AeroPeru, the Peruvian government, on June 25, grants permission for Aero Continente, the nation’s largest remaining domestic airline, to fly routes to the U. S., Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador, and Panama.
The FAA in Washington grants special exemption authority, but demands that all flights by Peruvian carriers into the U. S. henceforth be made in wet-leased aircraft only. Although Lima protests that the requirement is illegal under the 1998 bilateral, it remains in place; the American regulators do, however, promise a new safety inspection. For its part, Aero Continente demands that the U. S. justify its wet-lease order; it receives no response.
Employing a Boeing 757-28A wet-leased from Air 2000, Ltd., the carrier initiates daily roundtrips from Lima to Miami on November 17; the aircraft, which appears in the basic colors of the charter carrier with Aero Continente titles, has been chartered through April.
Plans by the FAA to return to Peru for a review of the country’s safety improvements are put on hold in the spring of 2000 as Peru holds a controversial presidential election. The results draw international protest and the U. S. State Department threatens sanctions.
The Air 2000, Ltd. B-757-28A is returned on April 29 and is replaced on the Miami-Panama City route with a Falcon Air Express B-727-200.
Continuing concern over the technical fitness of Peru’s airlines heightens and perhaps explains why Aero Continente has, by June, still not received a response to its 1999 request. An attempt to register via its new Aero Continente Chile, S. A. (Chile is a Category I country) subsidiary is initially rebuffed by the FAA. After returning the Falcon Air Express Boeing, the airline, on July 1, suspends its U. S. service. The controversy over the election continues throughout the summer, leading to the resignation of the nation’s president on September 16.
In something of a surprise, the U. S. Department of Transportation, on October 6, authorizes the Chilean subsidiary to operate the desired Miami flights.
AERO CONTINENTE CHILE, S. A.: Marchant Pereira 357, Santiago, Chile; Phone 204 2424; Fax 209 2358; Code C7; Year Founded 1999. This subsidiary of Aero Continente, S. A. is established at Santiago in the fourth quarter of 1999 to offer domestic scheduled passenger services. Ownership is divided between local groups (51%) and the Peruvian airline (49%), which provides three Boeing 737-201As.
Revenue services commence on May 18, 2000, over routes to Arica, Iquique, and Antotagasta. During this time, Aero Continente, which is banned from flying into the U. S. due to Peru's Category II safety rating, attempts to register itself in the U. S. under its subsidiary's name. The effort is rebuffed by the U. S. Federal Aviation Administration and a B-737-300 acquired for the route is unemployed.
In June, flights are started from Santiago to Concepcion and plans are announced for the initiation of service to Antofagasta.
The U. S. Department of Transportation on October 16 grants the company permission to operate into Miami. Santiago-Miami B-767-219ER return service is launched on November 17.
AERO CONTRACTORS OF NIGERIA, LTD.: Murtaia Mohammed Airport, PMB 21090, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; Phone 234 (1) 901 400; Fax 234 (1) 467-1973; Code NU; Year Founded 1959. An affiliate of the Dutch operator Schreiner Airways, B. V. (which holds 97% of all common shares), ACofN is established at Lagos in 1959 to provided nonscheduled passenger and charter freight operations, as well as contract service flights, throughout the nation (primarily in support of National Petroleum) and West Africa. W. Van Houtert is general manager and revenue flights commence to 16 destinations with 6 Piper PA-23 Aztecs.
Cornelius Reichgeld becomes general manager in 1965, during which year the company also becomes the nation’s Beech and de Havilland dealer.
The fleet is thereby enhanced by the addition of 1 DH 104 Dove I, a Dornier Do 28A-1, 3 de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters (which are assigned to antismuggling patrols on behalf of the government), and
1 DHC-2 Beaver.
Daily scheduled passenger and cargo services begin toward the end of the year and into 1966 from Lagos to Warri and Port Harcourt. ACofN is now the only scheduled operator in the country other than the state airline Nigeria Airways, Ltd.
Early in 1967, a contract is received from Nigeria Airways, Ltd. to operate a thrice-daily return service over the Lagos to Port Harcourt route ACofN had opened earlier. Unhappily, before this route can be started, Nigeria rebels briefly seize five of the company’s aircraft.
The fleet that eventually begins the flag carrier’s replacement service comes to comprise not only the Aztecs, Dornier, Dove, and Beaver operated earlier, but 3 DHC-6-300 Twin Otters.
Flights continue throughout the 1970s and, by the middle of the 1980s, the company is operating 4 de Havilland Canada DHC-6-100 Twin Otters, 2 Piper PA-31-310 Navajos, 2 British Aerospace BAe (HS) 125 executive jets, 1 Beech King Air 90, and 10 Aerospatiale Alouette III and Dauphin helicopters. Most of these are leased from Schreiner.
Operations continue apace over the remainder of the decade. In 1989 the rotary-wing fleet includes 4 each Aerospatiale SA-316B Alouette IIIs and SA-365N Dauphin 2s, the latter leased from Schreiner; 2 SA-365Cs, also chartered from the Dutch operator; and 2 each SA-319B Alouette IIIs and SA-355F Ecureuil 2s devoted exclusively to National Petroleum. The fixed-wing flight equipment comprises 4 BAe (HS) 125s (1 of which is chartered exclusively by National Petroleum), 6 DHC-6-300s, and 1 leased Dornier 228-200.
Three more Twin Otters are leased in 1990, along with a Dornier 228100. Following a successful 1991, the 4 SA-316Bs are withdrawn in 1992 , as 1 more DHC-6-300 is acquired. A fifth Dauphin 2 is purchased in 1993. During these years, Oteri Holdings acquires shareholding and Chief Michael Olorogun Ibru becomes general manager.
The workforce totals 300 in 1994 and the fleet now includes 3 BAe (HS) 125s, 10 Twin Otters, 10 Eurocopter Dauphins, and 1 Fokker F.27 Friendship. Coming in from Lagos on a contract flight for Shell Development Company on September 13, a Twin Otter with 5 passengers crashes at Abuja Airport; there are 2 fatalities.
The fleet is increased in 1995 by the addition of another BAe (HS) 125; however, the Fokker and 3 Twin Otters are withdrawn, along with
2 Dauphins, which are replaced by a pair of Eurocopter AS-355F Ecureuil IIs.
One more Twin Otter is acquired in 1996-1997, along with a DHC-8-102. As they have been since the beginning of the decade, these Canadian-built aircraft are leased from Schreiner Airways, B. V.
The carrier’s emphasis continues to be oil industry support and third-party aircraft operations, although daily roundtrip de Havilland frequencies are continued from Lagos to Warri and Port Harcourt.
Arriving from Port Harcourt on February 1 of the former year, a Twin Otter with 14 passengers is destroyed by a bad landing at Warri; there are no fatalities.
Flights continue in 1998-2000 and airline employment reaches 408. The fleet now includes 1 each DHC-8-102, DHC-8-311, 8 DHC-6-300s, 2 AS-355Fs, 10 AS-365N2s, and a Hawker 800 bizjet. Scheduled flights continue to be operated to Warri and Port Harcourt.
World History
