The Colombian Air Service ( es, Servicio Aéreo Colombiano), or SACO, was an early Colombian

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

. Founded in 1933, in 1940 SACO merged with the Colombo-German Air Transport Company (''Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aéreos'', or

SCADTA Sociedad Colombo Alemana de Transportes Aéreos german: Deutsch-Kolumbianische Luftverkehrsgesellschaft), or SCADTA, was the world's second airline, and the first airline in Latin America, operating from 1919 until World War II. After the war, SCA ...

); the new company was named

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 und ...

(''Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia''). Avianca still operates to this day, and claims SCADTA's history as its own, thus making it the second-oldest airline in the world.

History

On June 23, 1934, Ernesto Samper arrived in Bogotá with three

Curtiss Kingbird __NOTOC__ The Curtiss Model 55 Kingbird was an airliner built in small numbers in the United States in the early 1930s. It was a twin-engine aircraft with a fuselage derived from the single-engine Curtiss Thrush. The Kingbird had two engine nacel ...

and four American aviators hired to operate them. With these aircraft, the SACO expanded its operations to other cities,

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with 6 ...

, Cartago,

Montería Montería () is a municipality and city located in northern Colombia and is the capital of the Department of Córdoba. The city is located away from the Caribbean sea, by the Sinú River. The city and region are known for their distinct cultur ...

and Cartagena.

Accidents and incidents

On June 24, 1935, a Ford Trimotor of SACO collided during take off with another Ford Trimotor of SCADTA at Medellín, Colombia. 15 people were killed, including the world-famous tango singer Carlos Gardel.Todotango.com page describing the collision resulting in the death of Carlos Gardel
retrieved 28 December 2008. After the accident, the SACO airline stopped operating for some time, while it was reorganized and new aircraft were acquired.

References

Avianca Defunct airlines of Colombia Airlines established in 1933 Airlines disestablished in 1940 1940 mergers and acquisitions 1933 establishments in Colombia 1940 disestablishments in Colombia {{Colombia-airline-stub

History

Accidents and incidents

See also

References