AeroSur

Compañía Boliviana de Transporte Aéreo Privado Aerosur, S.A.,[2] shortened and styled AeroSur, was a privately owned airline from Bolivia, which served as the country's flag carrier since 1998,[3] along with state-owned Boliviana de Aviación. Headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra,[4] it operated a network of domestic and international scheduled passenger flights with its hub at the city's Viru Viru International Airport.[5] As of 2010, the airline had 1200 employees.[6]

Compañía Boliviana de Transporte Aéreo Privado Aerosur, S.A.
IATA ICAO Callsign
5L RSU AEROSUR
Founded1992
Ceased operations2012
HubsViru Viru International Airport
Frequent-flyer programClub AeroSur[1]
SubsidiariesAeroSur Paraguay
Fleet size11
Destinations20
HeadquartersSanta Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Key peopleHumberto Roca, CEO
Websiteaerosur.com

History

AeroSur was established in April 1992, following the deregulation of the Bolivian airline market, which previously had been controlled by state-owned Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano. Revenue flights on regional routes were commenced on 24 August of that year,[3] using an initial fleet of Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner and British Aerospace 146 aircraft. Over the following years, larger Boeing 727 airliners were acquired, allowing for a growth of network size and passenger numbers.

During the 2000s, AeroSur renewed and expanded its fleet, introducing larger aircraft of the types Boeing 747, Boeing 757 and Boeing 767,[7] which made the inauguration of long-haul flights possible. When Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano went bankrupt in 2007, AeroSur became the largest airline of Bolivia and the only one with intercontinental flights (to Central and North America as well as to Europe). Since 2009, the domestic fleet of ageing 727s is replaced by more modern, though second-hand purchased Boeing 737 Classic airliners.[7]

The subsidiary dubbed AeroSur Paraguay was planned to operate two Boeing 737-200 aircraft of mainline AeroSur. The further development of the project was postponed in mid-2009 pending Paraguayan governmental approval, and later deferred indefinitely.[3]

On 31 March 2012, the airline suspended operations because of unpaid taxes, but resumed all flights on 6 April except for its Madrid route. AeroSur had used a 747 leased from Virgin Atlantic on that route but had returned it to the lessor. The airline planned to resume that route with an ex-Aerolineas Argentinas 747–400.[8][9] Ultimately, AeroSur struggled to keep its operations running smoothly and returned its 767 aircraft to the lessor.[8]

On 17 May 2012 AeroSur suspended all its flights again, and other airlines such as state-owned Boliviana de Aviación have since begun to fill the void left by AeroSur. The airline was in talks with potential US investor William Petty who signed a memorandum of understanding to invest up to US$15 million in the Bolivian carrier. AeroSur's air operator's certificate was revoked on 20 July 2012. A group of former employees, as well as William Petty, planned to create a new airline called TU Aerolínea,[8] but, as of 2018, nothing had happened as far as that venture.

Destinations

Fleet

Last fleet
AeroSur Boeing 727-200
AeroSur Boeing 747-400

As of November 2011, the AeroSur fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[10][11]

AeroSur fleet
Aircraft In Service Passengers Routes Notes
F B E Total
Boeing 727-200
1
 0 12 138 150 Domestic
Boeing 737-300
4
 0 12 114 126 Domestic, American
Boeing 747-400
1
 14 58 379 451 Madrid leased from Virgin Atlantic
Total 5

AeroSur did not operate any dedicated cargo aircraft, but used the cargo holds of its passenger aircraft for network-wide freight transport. Additionally, tourist sightseeing flights were offered on a single Douglas DC-3.[3]

Fleet development
A former AeroSur Boeing 747-300, nicknamed "El Torisimo" ("big bull")
A former AeroSur Boeing 767-200, nicknamed "El Sharko"

Over the years, AeroSur operated the following aircraft types:[3][7]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Aircraft Introduced Retired
Airbus A330-200 2006
BAe 146-100/200
1992
1996
Beechcraft Baron
1992
1993
Boeing 727-100
Boeing 727-200
Boeing 737-200
2003
2012
Boeing 737-300
2009
Boeing 737-400
2010
2012
Boeing 747-300
2008
2010
Boeing 747-400
2009
Boeing 757-200
2006
2010
Boeing 767-200
2007
2012
De Havilland Canada DHC-6
1999
2001
Douglas DC-3 2004
Dornier Do 228
2003
2004
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner
1993
1998
Let 410
1992
1993
Piper PA-31 Navajo
1992
1993
Piper PA-34 Seneca
1992
1993
Yakovlev Yak-40
1998
2001

"Pirate Plane"
AeroSur Lockheed Constellation in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. (YV-C-AME)

A Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation with the AeroSur livery nicknamed "Pirate Plane", can be found in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. This aircraft never entered in service with AeroSur.

Incidents

Awards and recognitions

References
  1. Information about Club AeroSur at aerosur.com Archived December 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "DOE Accepted Carriers." Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Retrieved on January 23, 2011.
  3. "Information about AeroSur at the Aero Transport Data Bank". Aerotransport.org. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  4. "Contact Information Archived 2010-01-30 at the Wayback Machine." AeroSur. Retrieved on February 27, 2010. "Central Office Santa Cruz de la Sierra Dirección: Av. Irala # 61"
  5. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 50.
  6. History of AeroSur at aerosur.com Archived October 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "AeroSur fleet list at". Airfleets.net. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  8. "AeroSur". ch-aviation. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  9. "AeroSur says that its activities are normal but admits "difficulties" (in Spanish)". Opinion.com.bo. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2008-09-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Planespotters.net airline page". Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  12. "1997 incident at the Aviation Safety Network". Aviation-safety.net. 1997-12-31. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  13. Hosteltur (2009-07-17). "News item about AeroSur receiving a Bizz Award, at hosteltur.com (in Spanish)". Hosteltur.com. Retrieved 2018-01-29.

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