Aeropesca

  1960 to June 1983

  Colombia

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TYPE: Airline

IATA/ICAO CODES: RS / ---

HEADQUARTERS: Bogota, Colombia

FORMER NAME: Nil

SUBSEQUENT NAME: Intercontinental de Aviacion

Aeropesca was founded in 1960 in Bogota under the initiative of Captain Orlando Mestre with an old World War II bomber - a Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon - and 124,000 pesos. Initially the main business of the company was the transport of fresh fish from the coast to Bogota, and various good towards Colombia's eastern flatlands. The company's logo, a pelican, illustrated its business model: the transport of fresh fish by air.

Operations were soon extended to the whole country, still with a special emphasis on the rugged jungle region of the Colombian southeast. Another PV-2 was purchased, along with a PBY Catalina for the transport of passengers and cargo. Aeropesca secured a contract with the Colombian police for the transport of their ammunition, supplies, salaries and prisonners. However the Colombian Air Force soon took over that contract.

With the acquisition of the first Commando in 1965, charter flights extended to Central and South America. The main contracts were to transport live cattle from the farms to buyers abroad. A strong fleet of Commandos was quickly built up under the management of Luis Bonilla, one of the main shareholders. However a series of fatal accidents started to undermine the company's finances: two Commandos were lost in 1965 and 1968, and by 1971 it was clear that the company was losing a great deal of money and that it needed fresh money. Under the leadership of Captain Sarmiento Borda, it was deemed necessary to venture into the scheduled domestic airline market to save the company. Two Vickers Viscount war purchased from Aloha in Hawaii in November 1971, and Aloha offered support to train new staff and set up a maintenance base at Bogota El Dorado Airport.

Aeropesca benefited greatly from the bankruptcy of Líneas Aereas La Urraca and Aerolineas TAO, whose routes it took over. Destinations in the mid 1970's included Popayan, Pasto, Cucuta, Tame, Leticia Neiva, Florencia, Medellín, Barranquilla and Barrancabermeja, the counrty's oil production center. In 1977, the route from Bogota to Cali and Ipiales put Aeropesca in direct competition with Avianca, SAM and Aerocondor for the first time. In 1978, new services were approved to Arauca, and two additional Viscounts were purchased to increase capacity. A year later, additional money was invested in the company, and three new Viscounts were restored in partnership with the Colombian Air Force. By then, the company was evaluating the possibility of entering the jet era.

However, three sad episodes changed the fate of the airline. In August 1981, one of the Viscounts crashed in the mountains between Neiva and Florencia, killing all 50 onboard. Two months later, a Commando was hijacked by the guerilla and eventually crashed into the Orteguaza river. Finally, in March 1982, another Viscount crashed in the mountains enroute from Bogota to Villavicencio, killing 19. After these accidents, the only remaining assets were a Viscount, a Commando and the maintenance base at Bogota El Dorado. A group of investors purchased a majority stake in the failing company. The new owners decided to restructure the company and give it a new image, changing its name to Intercontinental de Aviacion.

June 1965* to June 1983

• Curtiss C-46A-10-CU Commando: HK-790
• Curtiss C-46A-35-CU Commando: HK-388, HK-791
• Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando: HK-812