Fina Air was 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
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 ...
named after Josefina Canto who was the mother of Lazaro Canto. It operated charter flights to the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
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 ...
in San Juan,
Rafael Hernández Airport
Rafael Hernández International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Hernández) is a joint civil-military airport located in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It is named after the Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín. It is ...
in
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 ...
and
Eugenio María de Hostos Airport
Eugenio María de Hostos Airport is a public use airport north of Mayagüez, a coastal city in Puerto Rico. The airport is named after Mayagüez native Eugenio Maria de Hostos. It offers limited, domestic commercial service, subsidized by the ...
in
Mayagüez. The airline has now ceased operations.
History
The airline was established in 2003 by Lazaro Canto (Founder and Chief Executive). In the June 7 edition of the newspaper
El Vocero
''El Vocero de Puerto Rico'' is a Puerto Rican free newspaper that is published in San Juan. Published since 1974, ''El Vocero'' was at first the third of the four largest Puerto Rico newspapers, trailing '' El Mundo'' and ''El Nuevo Día'' and ...
, the management of Fina Air announced that the airline would begin flying on July 15, 2003, connecting San Juan and Mayagüez with six Dominican Republic destinations. The airline planned to expand to other countries within the Caribbean by 2005 and acquire jet aircraft. The July 15 date, however, was later changed to October 2. The 2005 expectations for acquiring jets and opening new routes were never met.
Services
Apart from operating regularly scheduled services from Aguadilla, they also rented airplanes to United States
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
services, to return illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic back home.
Fina Air was partnered with the U.S. group called Viva Airlines. The people involved left a list of unpaid debts, lawsuits, and unhappy investors after the death of Chief Executive Officer Lazaro Canto.
Fleet
The Fina Air fleet of 3
Saab 340
The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...
aircraft have been purchased by an aircraft leasing company and were later operated by
RegionsAir
RegionsAir was a 14 CFR Part 121 regional airline based out of the Smyrna Airport in Smyrna, Tennessee, USA. The hub airports for RegionsAir were Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE).
R ...
as Continental Connection, flying out of Cleveland. The airline did try to purchase 2
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas.
After ...
aircraft but the purchase was cancelled. After several flights cancelled from July to August 2005, the airline Fina Air conducted an activity in the Dominican Republic to compensate customers affected in the months of December and January, which granted money in cash awards and added works of art by members of the
Oro Sólido music band and by
Johnny Ventura
Juan de Dios Ventura Soriano (8 March 1940 – 28 July 2021), better known as Johnny Ventura nicknamed , was a Dominican singer and band leader of merengue and salsa. The merengue legend was a legislator of the Lower House between 1982 and 198 ...
, all customers signed documents stating that they were pleased with the agreed compensation.
One of Fina Air's SAAB 340 airplanes later crashed in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, as
Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428
Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428 was a passenger flight which crashed near Los Menucos, Argentina, on 18 May 2011, killing all 22 people on board. The aircraft involved, a Saab 340, was operating Sol Líneas Aéreas' scheduled domestic service f ...
.
Livery
Because Puerto Rico is politically a part of the United States, Fina Air (not to be confused with the
cargo airline
Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines.
In 2018, airline cargo traf ...
Fine Air
Fine Air was an international cargo airline that operated from 1989 to 2002, when it was renamed Arrow Air following its bankruptcy and acquisition. It operated Douglas DC-8 and Lockheed L-1011 type jets to destinations in Central America, South A ...
), had the American flag painted on their planes' fuselages. However, most of Fina Air planes carried the colors of the Puerto Rican flag.
{{reflist
Defunct airlines of Puerto Rico
Airlines established in 2003
Airlines of Puerto Rico