Avianca 100 years flying uninterruptedly

One 5 from December to 1919 started its operations, birthday today Avianca 100 añflying uninterruptedly around the world.

Main photo by Diego Andreés Torres.
Photos histórich: Avianca Press.

With KLM it's two o'clock airíneas máancient s of the worldún en operationón, where the dutch by 2 months earns Avianca, but this úlast is mineás old by operating timeón uninterrupted.

in a long story, with good and difficultíwhich moment, the más old aerolíline of the American continent in operationón celebrates its centenary within a restructuring planón Avianca 2021 focused on resuming an operationón consistent and profitable.

within this framework, It is important to know its history and milestonesás important in this special post on the history of Avianca in the world.

let's start…

Avianca 100 añflying them

Avianca's predecessor company, SCADTA were the beginnings of this story, being the first aerolíplans to connect two cities on the South American continent on a commercial flight.

SCADTA made its own debut in December 1919, when a group of Colombian and German businessmen created the Colombo German Transport Society Aéreo (SCADTA).

Founders

SCADTA was among the first aerolíexisting lines and will soon becomeíin the airíColombian national line.

the grandfatherón that launched Avianca in 1920 they were the Junkers F13, sayén arrivals from Germany, where the model livedíHe made his first flight aloneñthe before in 1919.

Más planes arrived at SCADTA, dos Junkers F13, those who arrived in Colombia in July 1920. To begin operations, the company had to carry out rigorous security and mechanical testing.áonly to avoid a situationón similar to what happened with the Companyñíto Colombian Navigationón Aérea.

Avianca operationó the first route toéarea on the American continent, between Barranquilla and Girardot .

It was an adventure worthy of a movieíhollywood cul. flying in a smallñoh grandfatherón Junkers 13, with only four passengers and two crew, The pilot Helmut Von Krohn embarkedó into the unknown in September 1921.

Leaving Atl CityáBarranquilla ntica, voló a través the ríos and mountain rangesñbears towards the Colombian Interior, to the festive city of Girardot, not far from Bogotá.

An Austrian businessman named Dr.. Peter Paul from Bauer comenzó to invest in SCADTA in 1921, to soon become the manager of the group and help popularize their services outside of Colombia.

Así startedó this story.

Mail service

Avianca inaugurates its mail service toéprisoner in Colombia in 1922, which will then becomeíat the official postal service of the countryís.

The first flight by mail in Colombia took place in September 1919, with the legend of aviationóAmerican, William Knox Martin as a pilot flying between Barranquilla and Puerto Colombia, carrying a smallña bag full of 60 cards.

in august 1919, Knox Martin logró fly throughés of the Andes and reach Bogotá, where he was received with great enthusiasm and was immediately named «air minister» Colombian.

Él creó and managedó the companyñíto Bogotania Aviación (más later acquired by Avianca), and was a pioneer in
the first Colombian mail service in September 1919. William Knox Martin muró at the age of 36 añundress themés from a car accidentístic in the United States, and is remembered fondlyñor like the father of aviationóColombian n.

Shortly afterés, SCADTA byó a contract to deliver mail toéprisoner throughout Colombia. in May 1923, the airínea voló a package containingía 3.5 millions of Medell pesosín to the state bank in Bogotá during a currency shortage. It's an operationón demonstratedó the great efficiency of transportationéinmate to deal with emergencies.

growth between 1920 and 1930

Inevitably, there were setbacks along the way. SCADTA perdió two planes in 1924, además to suffer
an accident in which both the company's chief pilotñía, Helmut von Krohn, the Héinitial roe of the company in the flight of 1921 – and its president Mr. Ernesto Cortissoz passed away.

Pero la expansionógradual n of the aerolícontinuouslyó during the déeach of 1920, When SCADTA acquiredó más airplanes, including two Dornier Wal twin-engines in 1925, and new routes to the Caribbean were opened.

US authorities thwarted efforts to open routes to the United States, by denying the operationón since I don't want toíeven for a German-owned company to fly to your countryís. The United States does not have eitheríto an airplaneíown line that could do it.

Nevertheless, and Américh latina, SCADTA had más ésuccess. Lanceó flights to Guayaquil in Ecuador in June 1928, the first trade route that crossedó the equator, then to Panama Cityá y CristóBal en Panamá on 1929, adding thousands of miles to airline mileageínea.

Spaghettién startedó to use the commercial name Servicio Bolivariano de Transportes Aéprisoners, in honor of héroe liberator Yesón He wasíwas.

another aerosolíNea beganó to fly to Panamaá on 1929: in the coldén formada Pan American Airways (Pan Am), a través of Panagra, a joint venture of línea naviera W.R. Grace.

The pioneer of aviationón Charles Lindbergh voló the first flight between Miami and Panama Cityá, on a Sikorsky S-38 flying boat. Later, on 1930, by Bauer llegó to an agreement with the president of Pan Am, Juan Trippe, so that SCADTA received an investmentón of capital in exchange for delivering its international routes.

since february 1930, SCADTA becameó effectively in the Colombian branch of the Pan Am network, gaining two Americans on its board of directors and new manufacturing aircraftóAmerican and Britisháunique for your growing fleet.

AerovíColombian National Team

On 1940, SCADTA se fusionó with a competitor más smallñO, Service AéColombian prisoner (SACS), bringing a much greater changeás extensive in the aviation sectorón from Colombia: in Barranquilla the 8 June 1940, SCADTA shareholders met and decided to change the corporate name to AerovíColombian National Team (Avianca).

Avianca will becomeíin a companyñía limited liability «will always haveá Colombian nationality» and his propósite to beía «the exploitationón commercial serviceséprisoners … así like exploitationón of all indicated applications of the Aeronáutica Civil».

On an international level, anxiety about Nazi Germany was growing and American companies like Pan Am (and the US government itself) were unhappy about doing business with SCADTA because of their German connections.

The United States Department of State beganó to pressure the Colombian government and Pan Am to restrict German influence within SCADTA. As a result, on 1940 there was an agreement for the dismissal of the company's German employeesñíand the company passedó to be officially called Avianca.

overall growth

Once I finishedó the Second World War, on 1945 Avianca was free to resume its international operations and beganó to fly to Ecuador, Perú and Panamaá (on 1946) and to miami (on 1947). This turned heró in the 5ª aerolínew to connect with Norte América, afterés of Aerovias Brasil.

On 1949, Avianca habíhas established flights to New York, with transatl servicesáantiques to Lisbon, Roma y París añadidas in 1950. Like líthe regional one, the airíorderó airplanes más big and ráorders available. On 1951, These were the Constellationón Lockheed 749 and the Super Constellationón 1049. These were based on their current fleet of DC-4 and C-54 aircraft., and helped place Avianca among the Latin American operators más respected of the élittle.

Australia

Avianca Voló for the first time to Australia for the ol gamesíMelbourne mpics of 1956, where after 61 hours of operationón, marcó a milestone for aviationóLatin American woman with an airplaneón Douglas DC-4 as transportó a 28 athletes for the sports event más important in the world.

The route was Bogotá – Barranquilla – México – San Francisco – Honolulu – Cantón – Fiji – Melbourne.

Boeing 747

Avianca buys the grandfatherón jumbo Boeing 747 and becomes the first aerolínew in operating this type of aircraftón and Américh latina (1976).

With the aparición of new and advanced jumbo jets from the American firm Boeing, Avianca soon becameó in a frequent customer of this manufacturer, acquiring 720B models, 727-100, 727-200 and 737-100 in the déeach of 1960, followed by icónico jumbo 747 from 1976.

The 747 presentó to Avianca customers new levels of comfort and a geographical reacháI get enlarged, since the avión tenía un alcance más longer than its predecessors. The first planes were purchased from Aerolínea Continental Airlines, based in the United States, what's upíhas operated these aircraft in Américh from the North, But I wantíto retire four models as their operating costs increased.

Más allá of the 70

During the déeach of 1970, Avianca expandedó its global operations, flying high quality planes like the Boeing 747 and offering frequent services from Bogotá a Frankfurt, since the booming economyía West German élittle beliefó business opportunities on both sides of the Atláantique.

La liberalizationón of the aviation industryón Colombian in 1991 CHALLENGESó new competitive pressures for Avianca, with rivals Aces and Intercontinental bidding for the right to fly from Bogotáá a Miami, among other routes.

United Airlines, Iberia, Alitalia, KLM y British Airways también they obtained the right to fly to Bogotáá in the déeach of 1990, while Avianca's cargo segment facedó to the competition of the airlinesíneas locales Aces, ARCA, aerosucre, Challenge y Arrow Air.

Deregulationón of the aviation industryón Colombian in 1991 presentó desafíthose for Avianca, with other friendsñíregional companies whose marketsíhave been released. In Venezuela, VISA (AerolíInternational Venezuelan lines) Had problems, like Chilean Ladeco and Ecuadorian from Aviación in Ecuador.

The three airíPrevious businesses ended up closing or disappearing. To avoid the same fate, Avianca searchó alliances with partners in Américh latina, including SAETA from Ecuador and TACA (Transport AéCentral American areas). Spaghettién did it with American Airlines in December 1996.

Century 21

To welcome the new millennium, Avianca orderó a series of new and highly advanced aircraft, to modernize its fleet and replace the B737-200 and the 727-200 and increase the capacity of the aerolínea by launching new routes such as Quito to Guayaquil in Ecuador.

AfteréI know that the companyñía experimentó financial difficulties in 2003, the brazilian businessmanñGerman Efromovich acquiredó a participationón majority of the business in 2004, then extendedó are participationón percentage.

In línea with this internationalism, Avianca changesó formally its corporate name to Aerovías of the American Continent (Continental American Airline) on 2005.

Avianca Taca

Avianca and TACA merge, convertedégoing on the third airínea máAm's Bigérich latina (2010).

Afterés to announce their merger plansón in October 2009, Avianca's Synergy Aerospace holding company and the owner of TACA, Kingsland Holdings, completed the deal in February 2010. Synergy retained the 67 percent of the shares of TACA Holdings.

Subsequently, this carryíto the purchase of other Aerolíneas how AeroGal of Ecuador and the creationón of new subsidiaries in Costa Rica, Perú, Ecuador and Salvador.

Growth

This agreement alsoén markó the beginning of a período dramátic of expansionón to Avianca. the airíne abrió 12 new routes in 2011 and increaseó the frequency of 155 flights, completing más de 4.000 flights per week in Américh and Europe.

To attend to all this activity, the compañía placed a huge order for 51 Airbus A320 Neo aircraft, a significant shift from its reliance on Boeing and a vote of confidence in the European aircraft maker.

Along with this change, Avianca startedó to fly directly from Bogotá in London in 2014, increasing its existing flights to Spainñto and attracting new business clients, as i believeía la reputationón from Colombia as a próI hope for commercial and industrial destiny.

In the sameñO, the airíI did not acquire itó are an example of the Airbus A321, with a capacity of 194 passengers, along with the first of his 15 ATR short haul aircraft 72-600 French-Italians ordered in 2012, to replace your Fokker models 50 and ATR 42 from Centro América.

The Dreamliner era

in december 2014, during a period of 13 días, Avianca receivedó the delivery of its first four Boeing aircraft 787 Dreamliner that were the definitive replacement for Boeing aircraft 767-300.

the airínope lanzó its first service with Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the Bogot routeá to New York in January 2015, helping the airíready to win the prize Skytrax to «best aerosolínew of Américh from the South» on 2017.

Boeing aircraft 787-8 of Avianca have been assigned to cover interoce flightsánicos, connecting travelers leaving Bogotá, Cali y Medellín a Madrid, Barcelona and London. To the aircraft tooén routes were assigned from Colombia to Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Santiago and México.

Fleet

On 2007, they began to operate 10 Fokker aircraft 100, purchased from American Airline by US $ 180 millions, what strengthenedó the routes between Bogotá y Armenia, Pereira, Pasto and Bucaramanga.

Al dífrom today, Avianca's fleet isá confirmed in its greatestífor Airbus planes, included 13 Airbus A330, 13 A321, 64 A320, 26 A319y 10 A318. It is éemphasis on the European manufacturer beganó on 2008, when the aerosolínot alreadyó to buy Boeing airplanes (mainly the model 757) and startedó to acquire Airbus. On 2015 orderó 100 A320neo aircraft, the order más large performed by a single aerolínea in the history of aviationóLatin American.

Avianca has continually invested in its aircraft to ensure that they meet the más violas isáequipment standards, performance and reliability. Más de 180 planes, with an average age of five toñtwo and a half, now transport passengers and cargo safely around the world, which makes the Avianca fleet one of the más jócome and advance of América.

The fleet is completed with several Embraer aircraft (leaving the fleet) and ATR at the m endás smallñone from the fleet, which together with the rest of the planes are inspected and maintained thanks to the MRO inaugurated onñO 2016 as one of the más large and modern maintenance centers in the regionón.

Avianca Cargo

The company's main cargo operationsñíto cover 17 cities in Colombia and in Américh Central and Southern, along with Miami in the United States. Its fleet includes dedicated Airbus A330F cargo aircraft., while many goods are transported on passenger planes.

Avianca Cargo, that as a commercial unit separate from Avianca, can handle all types of specialized cargo, as artíextra heavy asses, musical instruments, live animals, human remains or goodsías dangerous.