Ecuatoriana de Aviacion, also commonly known simply as Ecuatoriana, is the national flag carrier airline of Ecuador.
History
Ecuatoriana began to operate in 1956 after a group of American and several Ecuadorian investors decided to set up the airline. At first, fifty percent of the airline was owned by Americans.
Serving a relatively small country, the airline had a varied fleet that consisted of Curtiss C-46, DC-4, DC-6 and one Junkers K16 aircraft. The Junkers airplane was a rarity, as Junkers airliners were already considered to be classics at the time.
Ecuatoriana began serving domestic as well as international destinations immediately after it started flying. International routes proved to be rather long trips: there were jets already in operation when Ecuatoriana began flying (that is, before the Boeing 707 made its first flight), but these were predominantly used by European airlines, and Ecuatoriana's equipment's technology made it a requirement for Ecuatoriana's first international route, from Quito to Miami, to include a stop over in Panama City, Panama. Likewise, routes from Quito and Guayaquil to Santiago included stop overs in Lima, Peru.
American investors pulled out of the company during the 1970s and the airline was then declared Ecuador's national carrier. By this time, the airline had modernized its fleet to include jets like the 707, and a new, colorful livery attracted airplane spotters at new destinations such as New York's JFK International Airport and Buenos Aires' Ezeiza International Airport.
The 707's came from the Ecuadorian Air Force , which was in charge of operating the airline. It was common in South America (and it still is, to some degree) that national airlines were operated by the nation's Air Force department. To reinforce its fleet, Ecuatoriana bought a number of DC-10s from Swissair, and it also opened non-stop routes to Canada. For Ecuatoriana de Aviacion, having jet equipment also meant that the old, long flights with stop overs were not necessary anymore, and non-stop routes were opened all over South America and to other North American cities.
Ecuatoriana also opened flights to such other destinations as Mexico City, Mexico and Madrid, Spain. The Quito and Guayaquil to Madrid routes in particular proved extremely competitive, as Iberia has also proven to be a popular airline among travelers that fly those two routes.
During the 1980s, Ecuatoriana de Aviacion began to make business with the European Airbus consorsium, buying their A310 jetliners.
Affected by the general economical crisis in South America during the 1990s, Ecuatoriana was met with deep financial problems. This was met with surprise by many airline experts and enthusiasts, as the airline was generally thought to be in good financial condition because Ecuatoriana's management usually kept quiet about the company's finances. But, in reality, the airline stopped flying in 1994, as some of their leased airplanes were taken back by the leasing companies since Ecuatoriana was not able to meet with the lease payment requirements. Rumors that government officials flew their family members for free on Ecuatoriana flights also hurt the airline's reputation.
Brazilian airline VASP soon came to save the airline, buying over 50 percent of it in 1995, and letting the Ecuatorian government retain the other 50 percent. Ecuatoriana received some Boeing 727s, which were repainted in Miami and at Tucson International Airport in Tucson, Arizona, and, by 1996, short domestic and international services were re-started, with a livery that resembled that of VASP's. A single DC-10, also borrowed from VASP, allowed the airline to re-introduce services to Madrid's Barajas International Airport.
By 2000, Ecuatoriana was once again, in financial troubles, and VASP decided to sell it's part of the airline to Lan Chile. Lan Chile, now a giant among Latin American airlines, owned fifty percent of the airline, leasing two Boeing 767's to the company.but in 2004 they sold their part to Lloyd Aereo Boliviano
External Links
About Ecuatoriana