Avianca Ecuador S.A. (formerly known as AeroGal) is an
airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
based in
Quito
Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...
,
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
. It operates passenger and cargo flights within
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
, between the mainland and the
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...
, and between
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
and
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
(on behalf of
Avianca
Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered under ...
). It is one of the seven nationally branded airlines (
Avianca Costa Rica
Avianca Costa Rica S.A., formerly known as LACSA (''Spanish: Lineas Aéreas Costarricenses S.A.''), minority owned by the Synergy Group, is the national airline of Costa Rica and is based in San José. It operates international scheduled servic ...
,
Avianca El Salvador
Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano, (''Air Transports of the American Continent'', known and branded formerly as TACA International), operating as Avianca El Salvador, is an airline owned by Kingsland Holdings based in El Salvador. As ...
, etc.) in the
Avianca Group
Avianca Group International Limited (formerly Avianca Holdings S.A. and AviancaTaca Holding Inc.) is a pan-regional Latin American multinational airline holding company with its registered office in St Albans, England, and its global headquarters ...
of Latin American airlines.
History
AeroGal was founded in November 1985 by the Ecuadorian businessman Carlos Serrano Lusetti, with the objective of offering air transportation of passengers and cargo in Continental Ecuador and in the Galapagos Archipelago. It began operating in 1986 with 2
Dornier Do 28
The type designation Dornier Do 28 comprises two different twin-engine STOL utility aircraft, manufactured by Dornier Flugzeugbau GmbH. Most of them served with the German Air Force and '' Marineflieger'' and other air forces around the world in ...
s with capacity for 12 passengers each.
In October 2009, AeroGal was 80% taken over by
Synergy Group, and announced its merger with
Avianca
Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered under ...
, and
TACA Airlines
Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano, (''Air Transports of the American Continent'', known and branded formerly as TACA International), operating as Avianca El Salvador, is an airline owned by Kingsland Holdings based in El Salvador. As ...
. With the merger, the company expanded its connections to Europe. It also merged with
Vuelos Internos Privados, being the first Ecuadorian company of this firm, the codes shared with this airline were still preserved in Aerogal's image, but since it merged with
AviancaTaca Holding, it was part of the same company.
Avianca made an investment of US $7.2 million to strengthen and modernize the company. Despite the purchase by Avianca, AeroGal continued using its separate identity until June 18, 2014, when the airline Avianca Ecuador, and continues to operate in Ecuador. On June 18, 2014, AeroGal was renamed under the brand Avianca Ecuador, but the official name was not changed accordingly until in early 2018, when the company was officially renamed to ''Avianca Ecuador S.A.''
Destinations
Fleet
Current fleet
![AeroGal Airbus A320 Ramirez](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/AeroGal_Airbus_A320_Ramirez.jpg)
As of February 2022, the Avianca Ecuador fleet includes the following aircraft:
Former fleet
As AeroGal, the airline previously operated the following aircraft:
Accidents and incidents
*On October 28, 1997, a
Fairchild Hiller FH-227D Fairchild may refer to:
Organizations
* Fairchild Aerial Surveys, operated in cooperation with a subsidiary of Fairey Aviation Company
* Fairchild Camera and Instrument
* List of Sherman Fairchild companies, "Fairchild" companies
* Fairchild F ...
(registered HC-BUF) was carrying company staff and equipment to the provisional operations base at
Ambato. The approach was flown at 100 knots. The touchdown was very late, with just 900 meters of the runway remaining. Ground fine pitch was selected, but the aircraft overran the runway and fell into a deep ravine.
*On May 2, 2009, a
Boeing 757-200
The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the Boeing 727, 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978.
...
(registered HC-CHC) was taking off from
José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport
José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional José Joaquín de Olmedo; ) is an international airport serving Guayaquil, the capital of the Guayas Province and the second most populous city in Ecuador. I ...
, when its right engine suffered repeated compressor
stalls and lost power. The crew reduced thrust on that engine to idle, levelled off and returned to Guayaquil for a safe landing about 13 minutes later.
*On September 19, 2010, AeroGal's
Boeing 767-300ER
The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...
(registered HC-CIJ) was involved in a near-miss at
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
. Initial reports by the
NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...
indicated that the flight was cleared to land on runway 13L, but instead attempted to land on runway 13R. The runway was in use by a
JetBlue
JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...
aircraft who had been cleared for takeoff. The error was spotted by a
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
crew in line for takeoff, who relayed the information to the tower. The air traffic controller issued an order for the flight to turn immediately and was able to prevent the collision.
See also
*
List of airlines of Ecuador
This is a list of operators which have an Air Operator Certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Ecuador.
Commercial airlines
This is a list of active airlines (May 2021).
Charter airlines
Government airlines
See also
*List of ...
References
External links
Official websiteOfficial website
{{IATA members, latinam
Avianca
Airlines of Ecuador
Airlines established in 1985
1985 establishments in Ecuador