Alas Uruguay ( Spanish for ''Wings Uruguay'') was an airline from Uruguay. It was founded by former employees of the defunct Uruguayan flag carrier, PLUNA, which closed in 2012. PLUNA had been a

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...

most of its life, and a mixed-ownership enterprise in later years, but Alas Uruguay was started as a private company, owned and managed by its own workers. Its bases were Carrasco International Airport in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

and

Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport () , also known by its former official name of Laguna del Sauce International Airport, and as Punta del Este International Airport, is an airport serving Punta del Este, Uruguay, locat ...

in Punta del Este. The company first adopted the name Alas-U, but in October 2013 was renamed Alas Uruguay. It started operations in January 2016 but, mired in debt, it stopped flying in October the same year and was eventually declared bankrupt.

History

Alas Uruguay was founded in 2013 on the initiative of a group of former PLUNA employees, but several difficulties led to it starting operations only almost three years later. It had a fleet of three leased Boeing 737-300 aircraft. The first aircraft was delivered to the airline in January 2015. She had previously operated for Ukraine International Airlines (UIA). Later in 2015, a second aircraft, also previously from UIA, and a third one, previously from

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...

, were delivered. All had

blended winglets Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...

. After several postponements, Alas Uruguay commenced operations on 21 January 2016, with a flight from Montevideo to Asunción, Paraguay, followed by Buenos Aires, Argentina six days later on the 27th. The Asunción route was discontinued on 12 October 2016, as it was not profitable. Plans to fly to Brazil and Chile never materialized. The airline operated for only nine months, struggling with financial difficulties, and suspended its operations on 24 October 2016. That day, its last remaining plane was repossessed by the lessor and Alas Uruguay filed a request to the Uruguayan authorities for a 60-day suspension of its activities, but operations never resumed and the airline lost its air operator's certificate (AOC) at the end of that period. The company was heavily indebted, owing U.S.$15 million to the Uruguayan government for a loan granted for the start of its operations and a further U.S.$4.9 million to suppliers. Negotiations with Chilean airline

Latin American Wings Latin American Wings (LAW) was a short-lived scheduled charter airline based at Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. At the time that operations were suspended, LAW flew to six destinations using Boeing 737-3 ...

to take over the company failed and Alas Uruguay was declared bankrupt, but as of 2017

Azul Brazilian Airlines Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S/A (''Azul Brazilian Airlines''; or simply Azul) is a Brazilian carrier based in Barueri, a suburb of São Paulo. The company's business model is to stimulate demand by providing frequent and affordable air serv ...

was negotiating with the Uruguayan government to establish a subsidiary in the country, taking up some of Alas Uruguay's routes and staff.

Destinations

Fleet

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alas Uruguay 2013 establishments in Uruguay 2016 disestablishments in Uruguay Airlines established in 2013 Airlines disestablished in 2016 Defunct airlines of Uruguay Companies based in Montevideo