LATCO (Lineas Aereas Transatlanticas Colombianas)

  March 1946 to 1952

  Colombia

TYPE: Cargo airline

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: Barranquilla

FORMER NAME: Nil

SUBSEQUENT NAME: Nil

Lineas Aereas Transatlanticas Colombianas (LATCO) was one of the first airlines in Colombia dedicated exclusively to cargo. It was founded in Barranquilla in March 1946, when Jaime Martinez Cardenas filed an application with the Directorate of Civil Aviation to lease three Commandos owned by the Ben Jones of Miami, FL. The purpose of the new company was to establish freight routes from Madrid (Cundinamarca) to Miami. LATCO began operations in 1947 with the first cargo aircraft registered C-61, C-63, C-65 and C-66, which arrived in Barranquilla before flying to Madrid.

Unfortunately, on 30 March 1949, HK-66 made an emergency landing in Techo, suffering major structural damage. The airplane was coming on a special flight from Barranquilla.

Expanding its all-cargo services in 1949, LATCO opened a scheduled route between Medellin and Bogota. By then, the company had its own offices in Barranquilla, Medellin, Cartagena, Cali and Bogota. Two additional aircraft, HK-67 and HK-75 were received, and subsequently sold to newborn Aerocondor.

LATCO later suffered major financial losses and later closed down.

1946* to 1958*

• Curtiss C-46-CU Commando: HK-604
• Curtiss C-46A-1-CK Commando: C-67 / HK-67 / HK-606
• Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando: C-68 / HK-68
• Curtiss C-46A-55-CK Commando: C-61 / HK-61, C-65 / HK-65, C-66X / C-66 / HK-66
• Curtiss R5C-1 Commando: C-63 / HK-63