Avianca operates two subsidiary airlines: SAM and Helicol in Colombia. It has three important business units: Avianca Cargo (include Deprisa), Avianca Services and the tour operator DesKubra. Avianca is also planning the establishment of a new airline in Paraguay, which presumably would be called OceanAir Paraguay.
During 2008, SAM Colombia, OceanAir in Brazil, VIP and eventually OceanAir Paraguay, will be rebranded as Avianca, consolidating one of the major airlines in the Americas.
History
SCADTA (1919 - 1940)
The airline traces its history back to December 5, 1919, in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia. Germans Werner Kamerer, Stuart Hosie, Alberto Tietjen, and Colombians Ernesto Cortissoz (the first President of the Airline), Rafael Palacio, Cristobal Restrepo, Jacobo Correa, and Aristides Noguera founded the Colombo-German Company called Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transporte Aereo, 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 Cortissoz 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 Aereo Colombiano) forming the new Aerovias Nacionales de Colombia S.A. or Avianca. Five Colombians participated in this act , and German citizens Alberto Teitjen, Werner Kaemerer, and Stuart Hosie, while the post of first President of Avianca was acquired by Martin del Corral. There had been decades of dedicated work and contribution to Colombia's development through actions among which the following may be highlighted:
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 Berrio.
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 Berrio 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 Bogota were established.
The cost of the first SCADTA air tickets were as follows: from Bogota to Barranquilla, COP $75; from Bogota to Cartagena, COP $85; from Bogota to Cartago, COP $35; from Bogota to Cali, COP $ 50.
On July 16, 1931, SCADTA established the first mail service between Bogota 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 Simon Bolivar 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 Bogota expanded thanks to the modern air terminal that Avianca commissioned: Aviancas Air Bridge. The new terminal originally operated routes to Miami, New York City, Cali, Medellin, Pasto, and Monteria.
By 1990 Avianca had acquired the most modern aircraft in the world: two Boeing B767-200ERs, which were baptized with the names of Cristobal Colon and Americo 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 Aviancas 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 B757200, McDonnell Douglas MD83, Fokker F50 and Bell Helicopters. This new system covered the following destinations:
In Colombia: Bogota, Arauca, Armenia, Cali, Medellin, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cucuta, Santa Marta, Leticia, Manizales, Monteria, Pasto, Pereira, Popayan, Riohacha, San Andres, Valledupar, Providencia, Capurgana, Bahia Solano, Nuqui, Caucasia and Chigorodo.
In South America: Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Lima, Quito, Guayaquil and Caracas.
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 Jose, San Juan, Curacao, Santo Domingo and Aruba.
By 1996, Avianca Postal Services evolved into Deprisa, providing express mail services through its products 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 Bogota 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 countrys capital for the benefit of Colombian and international travellers between South America, Europe and North America.
Summa Alliance (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 Aviancas 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.
In 2008 OceanAir, VIP and Wayra will be rebranded as Avianca to consolidate as one airline following the ambitious expansion plans of the airline.
Subsidiaries
SAM is an airline based at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota (Colombia). Its fleet is now in Avianca's livery but with a short note operated by SAM.
Helicol is an helicopter operator based at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota (Colombia).
OceanAir is an airline based at Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo (Brazil).
* OceanAir Paraguay is an expected regional airline based at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport in Asuncion (Paraguay).
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).
Former subsidiaries
ACES was an airline based at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota (Colombia).
Wayraperu was a regional airline based at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima (Peru).
Destinations
Avianca's hub is Bogota El Dorado International Airport. Its focus cities are Medellin, Cali, Cartagena and Barranquilla, as well as Miami, where Avianca has an important number of operations and passengers.
Avianca has additionally applied to the Aerocivil for service to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with one daily flight, and for 7 new weekly frequencies to Mexico City, upgrading its service to the city to two daily flights. This services have been granted by Aerocivil in March 10,2007. Avianca will also operate a daily flight to San Andres (ADZ) from Medellin an Cali.
Codeshare agreements
Presently, Avianca has codeshare agreements with:
Delta Air Lines
Mexicana de Aviacion
Iberia
Air Canada
Grupo TACA
Satena
VIP lounges
Avianca has VIP lounges at the following airports:
Colombia
El Dorado International Airport (Bogota)
Jose Maria Cordova International Airport (Medellin)
Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (Barranquilla)
El Eden Airport (Armenia)
Matecana International Airport (Pereira)
Alfonso Bonilla Aragon International Airport (Cali)
Camilo Daza International Airport (Cucuta)
Ecuador
Mariscal Sucre International Airport (Quito)
Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International Airport (Guayaquil)
DesKubra
DesKubra is Aviancas commercial division specialized in the design and offer of tourist packages for destinations in Colombia and abroad.
Deskubra offers plans to:
The Colombian Caribbean
Armenia
The interior of Colombia
Argentina
Chile
Chile plus Argentina (Lake crossing)
Margarita Island
Aruba
Florida (Miami and Fort Lauderdale)
Panama
Mexico
Brazil
Peru (Lima and Cusco)
Spain (Madrid)
Fleet
Avianca
OceanAir
Helicol
Retired
Awards and nominations
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
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 [*] [*].
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 in September 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 near Santander, Colombia 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.
On January 25, 1990, Avianca Flight 52, a Boeing B707-321 jet en route from Bogota to New York City via Medellin, 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.
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