Avianca 100 years flying uninterruptedly

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One 5 from December to 1919 started its operations, birthday today Avianca 100 years flying uninterrupted around the world.

Main photo by Diego Andres Torres.
historical photos: Avianca Press.

With KLM They are the two oldest airlines in the world still in operation, where the dutch by 2 months earns Avianca, but the latter is the oldest by time of uninterrupted operation.

in a long story, with good and difficult moments, the oldest operating airline in the american continent celebrates its centenary within a restructuring plan Avianca 2021 focused on resuming a coherent and profitable operation.

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

let's start…

Avianca 100 years flying

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

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

Founders

SCADTA was among the first existing airlines and would soon become the Colombian national airline.

The plane that launched Avianca in 1920 they were the Junkers F13, new arrivals from germany, where the model had made its maiden flight just a year earlier in 1919.

More planes arrived at SCADTA, dos Junkers F13, those who arrived in Colombia in July 1920. To start operations, the company had to carry out rigorous security and mechanical tests to avoid a situation similar to what happened with the Colombian Air Navigation Company..

Avianca operated the first air route in the American continent, between Barranquilla and Girardot .

It was an adventure worthy of a Hollywood movie.. Flying in a little Junkers plane 13, with only four passengers and two crew, the pilot Helmut Von Krohn embarked into the unknown in September 1921.

Departing from the Atlantic city of Barranquilla, flew across rivers and mountain ranges into the Colombian interior, to the festive city of Girardot, not far from Bogota.

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

This is how this story began.

Mail service

Avianca inaugurates its airmail service in Colombia in 1922, which would later become the country's official postal service.

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

in august 1919, Knox Martin managed to fly through the Andes and reach Bogotá, where he was received with great enthusiasm and was immediately named Colombian "air minister".

He created and managed the Bogotania Aviation Company (later acquired by Avianca), and was a pioneer in
the first Colombian mail service in September 1919. William Knox Martin died at the age of 36 years after a car accident in the United States, and is fondly remembered as the father of Colombian aviation.

Shortly after, SCADTA won a contract to deliver airmail throughout Colombia. in May 1923, the airline flew a package containing 3.5 million pesos from Medellín to the state bank in Bogotá during a currency shortage. This operation demonstrated the great efficiency of air transport to deal with emergencies.

growth between 1920 and 1930

Inevitably, there were setbacks along the way. SCADTA lost two aircraft in 1924, besides suffering
an accident in which both the chief pilot of the company, Helmut von Krohn, the initial hero of the company in the flight of 1921 – and its president Mr. Ernesto Cortissoz passed away.

But the airline's gradual expansion continued through the 1990s. 1920, when SCADTA acquired more aircraft, 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 operation as they did not want a German-owned company to fly into their country. The United States also did not have its own airline that could do it.

Nevertheless, in Latin America, SCADTA was more successful. Launched flights to Guayaquil in Ecuador in June 1928, the first trade route that crossed the equator, then to Panama City and Cristóbal in Panama in 1929, adding thousands of miles to airline mileage.

It also began using the trade name Servicio Bolivariano de Transportes Aéreos, in honor of the liberating hero Simón Bolívar.

Another airline started flying to Panama in 1929: the newly formed Pan American Airways (Pan Am), via Panagra, a joint venture of the shipping line W.R. Grace.

Aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh flew the first flight between Miami and Panama City, on a Sikorsky S-38 flying boat. Later, on 1930, von Bauer reached an agreement with the president of Pan Am, Juan Trippe, for SCADTA to receive a capital investment in exchange for handing over its international routes.

since february 1930, SCADTA effectively became the Colombian branch of the Pan Am network, gaining two Americans on its board of directors and new American and British-made aircraft for its growing fleet.

National Airways of Colombia

On 1940, SCADTA merged with a smaller competitor, the Colombian Air Service (SACS), bringing a much broader change in the Colombian aviation sector: in Barranquilla the 8 June 1940, SCADTA shareholders met and decided to change the corporate name to Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia (Avianca).

Avianca would become a limited liability company that "will always have Colombian nationality" and its purpose would be "the commercial exploitation of air services." … as well as the exploitation of all the indicated applications of Civil Aeronautics».

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 US State Department began 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 employees and the company was officially renamed Avianca.

overall growth

After World War II ended, on 1945 Avianca was free to resume its international operations and began flying to Ecuador, Peru and Panama (on 1946) and to miami (on 1947). This made it the 5th airline to connect with North America., after Aerovias Brazil.

On 1949, Avianca had established flights to New York, with transatlantic services to Lisbon, Rome and Paris added in 1950. as a regional leader, the airline ordered the largest and fastest planes available. On 1951, these were the Lockheed Constellation 749 and the Super Constellation 1049. These were based on their current fleet of DC-4 and C-54 aircraft., and helped place Avianca among the most respected Latin American operators of the time.

Australia

Avianca flew to Australia for the first time for the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956, where after 61 hours of operation, marked a milestone for Latin American aviation with a Douglas DC-4 aircraft that transported 28 athletes for the most important sports event in the world.

The route was Bogota - Barranquilla - Mexico - San Francisco - Honolulu - Canton – Fiji - Melbourne.

Boeing 747

Avianca buys the Boeing jumbo jet 747 and becomes the first airline to operate this type of aircraft in Latin America (1976).

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

The 747 introduced Avianca customers to new levels of comfort and an expanded geographic reach, as the aircraft had a longer range than its predecessors. The first aircraft were purchased from Continental Airlines, based in the United States, who had operated these aircraft in North America, but wanted to retire four models as its operating costs increased.

Beyond the 70

During the decade of 1970, Avianca expanded its global operations, flying high quality planes like the Boeing 747 and offering frequent services from Bogota to Frankfurt, as the booming West German economy of the time created business opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic.

The liberalization of the Colombian aviation industry in 1991 caused new competitive pressures for Avianca, with rivals Aces and Intercontinental bidding for the right to fly from Bogotá to Miami, among other routes.

United Airlines, Iberia, Alitalia, KLM and British Airways also won the right to fly to Bogotá in the 1990s. 1990, while Avianca's cargo segment faced competition from local airlines Aces, ARCA, aerosucre, Challenge y Arrow Air.

The deregulation of the Colombian aviation industry in 1991 presented challenges for Avianca, with other regional companies whose markets had been liberated. In Venezuela, VISA (International Venezuelan Airlines) Had problems, like Chilean Ladeco and Ecuadorian Aviation in Ecuador.

The previous three airlines ended up closing or disappearing. To avoid the same fate, Avianca sought alliances with partners in Latin America, including SAETA from Ecuador and TACA (Central American Air Transport). He also did it with American Airlines in December of 1996.

Century 21

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

After the company experienced financial difficulties in 2003, Brazilian businessman German Efromovich acquired a majority stake in the business in 2004, then extended its percentage stake.

In line with this internationalism, Avianca formally changed its corporate name to Aerovías del Continente Americano (Continental American Airline) on 2005.

Avianca Taca

Avianca and TACA merge, becoming the third largest airline in Latin America (2010).

After announcing their merger plans 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 would lead to the purchase of other airlines such as AeroGal of Ecuador and the creation of new subsidiaries in Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador and Salvador.

Growth

This agreement also marked the beginning of a dramatic period of expansion for Avianca.. The airline opened 12 new routes in 2011 and increased the frequency of 155 flights, completing more than 4.000 flights per week in America and Europe.

To attend to all this activity, the company 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 started flying directly from Bogotá to London in 2014, increasing its existing flights to Spain and attracting new business clients, as Colombia's reputation as a prosperous commercial and industrial destination grew.

In the same year, the airline acquired its first 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 of American Center.

The Dreamliner era

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

The airline launched its first service with Boeing 787 Dreamliner en route from Bogota to New York in January 2015, helping the airline win the award Skytrax for the “Best airline in South America” in 2017.

Boeing aircraft 787-8 of Avianca have been assigned to cover interoceanic flights, connecting travelers leaving Bogota, Cali and Medellin to Madrid, Barcelona and London. The aircraft was also assigned routes from Colombia to Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Santiago and Mexico.

Fleet

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

Today, Avianca's fleet is confirmed mostly by Airbus aircraft, included 13 Airbus A330, 13 A321, 64 A320, 26 A319y 10 A318. This emphasis on the European manufacturer began in 2008, when the airline stopped buying Boeing planes (mainly the model 757) and began to acquire Airbus. On 2015 ordered 100 A320neo aircraft, the largest order placed by a single airline in the history of Latin American aviation.

Avianca has continuously invested in its aircraft to ensure that they meet the highest equipment standards., performance and reliability. More of 180 planes, with an average age of five and a half years, now transport passengers and cargo safely around the world, which makes the Avianca fleet one of the youngest and most advanced in America.

The fleet is completed with several Embraer aircraft (leaving the fleet) and ATR at the smaller end of the fleet, which together with the rest of the planes are inspected and maintained thanks to the MRO inaugurated the year 2016 as one of the largest and most modern maintenance centers in the region.

Avianca Cargo

The company's main cargo operations cover 17 cities in Colombia and in Central and South America, 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, like extra heavy items, musical instruments, live animals, human remains or dangerous goods.

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