Aviateca
Operator Identification
1929 to 1989
Guatemala
TYPE: Airline
IATA/ICAO CODES: GU / GUG
HEADQUARTERS: Guatemala City
OTHER NAMES: Aerovias de Guatemala (1929-1945), Empresa Guatemalteca de Aviacion (1945-1989)
SUBSEQUENT NAME: TACA (purchased 1989)
Operator History
Aerovias de Guatemala was founded in 1929 by Alfredo Denby Chattfield. After it went bankrupt, a decree was passed on 14 March 1945 by the government of Juan Jose Arevalo to form Empresa Guatemalteca de Aviacion SA, shortened to Aviateca. The new airline, in which the government had a 30% stake, took over all of Aerovias de Guatemala's domestic network, along with an international route to Belize. It started operations in March 1946 with a fleet centered on the Douglas DC3. On 7 July 1948, San Jose de Costa Rica was added, and in the 1950's San Salvador was also added after a short suspension of international services.
In early 1955, the CAB granted Aviateca a three-year foreign air carrier permit for passengers and cargo services to Miami, FL via Belize, and to New Orleans, LA. Miami service was launched in May 1957 with a Douglas DC4, while New Orleans was served by a series of charter flights carrying chicle northbound and fresh fruits and vegetables on the return leg. Service to Houston, TX was also granted by the CAB for a short period. Honduras was added to the network at that time, with service to Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. From 1961, these routes were operated with a Douglas DC6. Convair 340s & 440s were purchased to replace some of the old DC3s on short-haul routes in Latin America.
Aviateca introduced jet service with the BAC One-Eleven in 1970. By 1974, the airline was operating the stretched BAC One-Eleven series 500 version of the British-manufactured jet on international flights to Miami, FL, New Orleans, LA, Mexico City, Merida and San Jose, Costa Rica. Aviateca later acquired two Boeing 727-100s, which operated for the airline in the 1980's. From 1989, Aviateca joined the TACA-organised Airline Alliance of Central America and was privatised. It was fully integrated into TACA, which later merged with Avianca.
Commando Operations
November 1949* to September 1975*
Two Commandos were introduced in Aviateca's fleet in 1950, and others joined later while the number in the fleet at any time remained steady at two units. The Commandos were withdrawn from use in 1972, also they may have remained in the inventory longer.
Last edited: 01/03/2021