Avianca
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| Founded | 1940 | ||||||
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| Hubs | El Dorado International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | José María Córdova International Airport Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport Rafael Núñez International Airport Matecaña International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | AviancaPlus | ||||||
| Alliance | 6 | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | Aerogal Capital Airlines (Nigeria) Helicol OceanAir Tampa Cargo SAM Colombia VIP Ecuador | ||||||
| Fleet size | 60* (+86 orders, 20 options) *Only include all Avianca and SAM fleet. | ||||||
| Destinations | 49* *Only include all Avianca and SAM destinations. | ||||||
| Parent company | Synergy Group Corp. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Bogotá (Colombia) | ||||||
| Key people | Fabio Villegas R. (President) Juan Emilio Posada E. Germán Efromovich (Chairman) | ||||||
| Website | www.avianca.com | ||||||
Avianca S.A. (Spanish acronym: Aerovías del Continente Americano, formerly Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia) is an airline that serves as the the flag carrier of Colombia. Avianca was founded in Barranquilla in 1940, as a result of the merger of Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transporte Aéreo or SCADTA (founded in 1919), and Servicio Aéreo Colombiano or SACO (founded in 1933).[1] Today its main operation base and headquarters are in Bogotá, adjacent to the El Dorado International Airport. Avianca is owned by the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers and by South American conglomerate Synergy Group.
Avianca operates six subsidiary airlines: Helicol, SAM Colombia and Tampa Cargo in Colombia; OceanAir in Brazil; VIP and Aerogal in Ecuador; and Capital Airlines in Nigeria. It has three important business units: Avianca Cargo (include Avianca Deprisa), Avianca Services and Avianca Tours (formerly 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 Ecuador, Tampa Cargo and eventually, OceanAir Paraguay, were 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. Colombians Ernesto Cortissoz (the first President of the Airline), Rafael Palacio, Cristóbal Restrepo, Jacobo Correa and Aristides Noguera and Germans Werner Kämerer, Stuart Hosie and Alberto Tietjen founded the Colombo-German Company, called Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transporte Aéreo or SCADTA. The company accomplished its first flight between Barranquilla and the nearby town of Puerto Colombia, aboard a Junkers F.13, 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 seaplanes 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 US-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 Aéreo Colombiano), forming the new Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia S.A. or Avianca. Five Colombians participated in this act: (Rafael María Palacio, Jacobo A. Corea, Cristobal Restrepo, Aristides Noguera) and German citizens Alberto Teitjen, Werner Kaemerer and Stuart Hosie, while the post of first President of Avianca was filled by Martín 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 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 Berrío.
- 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, SCADTA began to provide airmail service.
- In August 1922, General Pedro Nel Ospina, then President of Colombia, used a SCADTA aircraft to conduct official business for the first time.
- On July 19 1923, to save the country from bankruptcy, SCADTA transported a gold and currency load from Puerto Berrío to Girardot.
- On July 12 1928, a SCADTA Junkers F.13, commanded by Pilot Herbert Boy, crossed the Equator.
- On July 23 1929, regular routes between Girardot and Bogotá were established.
- The cost of the first SCADTA air tickets were as follows: from Bogotá to Barranquilla, COP $75; from Bogotá to Cartagena, COP $85; from Bogotá to Cartago, COP $35; and from Bogotá to Santiago de Cali, COP $50.
- On July 16 1931, SCADTA established the first mail service between Bogotá 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 DC-3 aircraft arriving in the country, flying at the then-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 DC-4 and C-54 Skymaster aircraft,.
- In 1951, Avianca acquired the Lockheed 749 Constellation and the 1049 Super Constellation aircraft, the biggest and fastest at 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 aircraft, to operate its international routes and on November 2, 1961, it acquired its own Boeing 720s, baptizing them with the names, Simón Bolívar 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, mixing cargo and passenger operations.
- In 1981, the possibilities for in-ground service for passengers in Bogotá expanded, thanks to the modern air terminal that Avianca commissioned: Avianca’s Air Bridge. The new terminal originally operated routes to Miami, New York City, Santiago de Cali, Medellín, Pasto and Montería.
- By 1990, Avianca had acquired the most modern aircraft in the world: two Boeing B767-200ERs, which were baptized with the names of Cristóbal Colón and Américo 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 Avianca’s 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 B757–200, McDonnell Douglas MD83, Fokker 50 and Bell helicopters.
This new system covered the following destinations:
- In Colombia: Bogotá, Arauca, Armenia, Santiago de Cali, Medellín, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Santa Marta, Leticia, Manizales, Montería, Pasto, Pereira, Popayán, Riohacha, San Andrés, Valledupar, Providencia, Capurganá, Bahía Solano, Nuquí, Caucasia and Chigorodó.
- In South America: Quito, Guayaquil, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Chile, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Lima and Caracas.
- In North America: Los Angeles, Newark, New York City, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Mexico City.
- In Europe: Madrid, Paris, Frankfurt am Main and London.
- In Central America and the Caribbean: Panama, San José, San Juan, Curaçao, 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 Bogotá, 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 country’s capital, for the benefit of Colombian and international travellers between South America, Europe and North America.
In addition to its Avianca Connection, and alliance partnerships, Avianca offers frequent flyer partnerships with the following airlines:
Summa Alliance (2002 - 2004) After a rigorous and complex process, the worldwide aviation industry came through after the September 11 attacks. Avianca, the regional carrier SAM Colombia and its major rival ACES Colombia, 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 2003, to focus in strengthening the Avianca trademark. These decisions resulted in the liquidation of ACES Colombia altogether and the acquisition of SAM Colombia, 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, 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 an offer, besides being better than the one that has been approved by Avianca’s 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 out 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 2009, OceanAir and VIP Ecuador will be rebranded as Avianca, to consolidate as one airline, following the ambitious expansion plans of the airline. Subsidiaries
Former subsidiaries
DestinationsAvianca's hub is in Bogotá at El Dorado International Airport. Its focus cities are: Medellín, Santiago de Cali, Cartagena, Colombia and Barranquilla, as well as Miami, where Avianca is the largest foreign carrier by number of passengers. Avianca's expansion during 2008 has added three new international destinations, with new flights to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Washington, D.C. and San José, Costa Rica, as well as new frequencies to Curaçao, Valencia, Venezuela, Santiago, Chile, New York, Madrid and Barcelona, that help strengthen the hub in Bogota. Avianca has also been granted service to Orlando, Florida, but the airline has not yet announced a start date for that service. During 2009, a stronger expansion is expected, as the new fleet arrives, with more frequencies to destinations like Mexico and probably two new European destinations, London and Frankfurt am Main, but no confirmation has been made yet. Codeshare agreementsPresently, Avianca has codeshare agreements with: Avianca VIP LoungesAvianca has VIP lounges at the following airports: Colombia
Ecuador
Avianca ToursAvianca Tours is Avianca’s commercial division specializing in the design and offer of tour packages, for destinations in Colombia and abroad. Avianca Tours offers packages to:
FleetThe Avianca fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 27 March 2009) [1]:
Retired
LiveryAwards and nominationsAwards
Nominations2007
2006
2005
Incidents and accidentsThe 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 presidential candidate César Gaviria Trujillo. In the aftermath, it was found that Gaviria had not boarded the aircraft. 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 26 April 1990, M-19 presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro was gunned down during a domestic Avianca flight.[2][3] Other incidents include:
Private bus services in the United StatesIn the United States, Avianca operates a private bus service from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Union City and Elizabeth in New Jersey.[3] Popular culture
References
External links
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