Dorado Wings was a small

commuter airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

that operated from

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín) is a joint civil-military international airport located in suburban Carolina, Puerto Rico, southeast of San Juan. It is named for Luis Muño ...

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

Dorado Airport Dorado Airport or Dorado Beach Airport was a small single runway airport in Dorado, Puerto Rico. Clara Livingston, the owner of the property at the time, ordered the strip be built, and her friend, Amelia Earhart, may have used the facility a ...

in the tourist center of Dorado, Puerto Rico. Dorado Wings was the only commercial operator at Dorado Airport. Dorado Wings existed under that name from 1964 to 1981. In early 1981, the airline was purchased and its name was changed to Crown Air which operated until 1988. Commuter turboprop and prop aircraft operated by Dorado Wings during its existence included: * 13

Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial air ...

(BN-2A models) * 5 de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter * 3

Handley Page Jetstream The Handley Page HP.137 Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage. The aircraft was designed to meet the requirements of the United States commuter and regional airline market. The design was later improved and b ...

* 1

Piper Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...

* 1

Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

Flights from San Juan to Dorado took 15 minutes. Because of the shortness of their flights, Dorado Wings airplanes were a constant sight every day at many airports throughout this part of the Caribbean. Airports served in Puerto Rico were San Juan International (SJU),

Isla Grande Isla Grande is a small island and Corregimientos of Panama, corregimiento in Portobelo District, Colón Province, Panama, off the Caribbean coast. It had a population of 1,037 . Its population as of 1990 was 626; its population as of 2000 was 1,05 ...

(SIG), Dorado Beach (DBA), Mayagüez (MAZ),

Palmas Del Mar Palmas del Mar is a beach resort community consisting of a country club, golf courses, tennis, a beach club, residences and a hotel. It is located in the municipality of Humacao, Puerto Rico, on the southeast corner of the island. Features Set i ...

(PDM) and

Aguadilla Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is s ...

(BQN) (former Ramey Air Force Base). Other Caribbean airports served were St. Thomas (STT), St. Croix (STX), Tortola/Beef Island BVI (EIS), Virgin Gorda BVI (VIJ), St. Kitts (SKB), St. Maarten/St. Martin (SXM), St. Barts (SBH) and Anguilla (AXA). Still more airports were served on a charter basis.

Incidents and accidents

In 1981, a Dorado Wings airplane suffered an accident on a non revenue flight after takeoff at San Juan airport. There were no major injuries or fatalities, though the aircraft was totaled. The airline was, at the time, part of a group of smaller Puerto Rican airlines that were seen commonly at San Juan's international airport. These also included

Flamenco Airways Air Flamenco is a commuter airline operated by Air Charter, Inc., based in Puerto Rico. History Air Flamenco traces its history to Flamenco Airways, which was founded in 1976 by Mr. Rubén Torres. The first aircraft used was the Piper Cherokee 6 ...

Prinair Prinair is a Puerto Rican charter operator airline. It was Puerto Rico's domestic and international flag carrier airline for almost two decades from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. Despite previously ceasing scheduled commercial operations twice ...

Oceanair Oceanair was a regional airline that was based at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It competed on domestic routes with Prinair; and on routes to the Virgin Islands with Prinair and with Aero Virgin Islands; ...

and

Vieques Air Link Vieques Air Link (VAL, IATA code:V4) is a small Puerto Rico-based airline that links Vieques with Culebra and mainland Puerto Rico. History Operations began during 1965, with owner Osvaldo "Val" Gonzalez-Duriex piloting a plane with three ...

, of which, as of 2012, only Vieques Air Link and Flamenco Airways survived (Prinair returned to the skies during 2019).

Incidents and accidents

See also