Avianca Ecuador S.A. (formerly known as AeroGal) is an

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 ...

based in Quito,

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: ' ...

. It operates passenger and cargo flights within

, 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

and Colombia (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 und ...

). It is one of the seven nationally branded airlines ( Avianca Costa Rica,

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 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

, 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

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 (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 (registered HC-CHC) was taking off from José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport, 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 (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 inci ...

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.

References

External links

Official website

Official website
{{IATA members, latinam Avianca Airlines of Ecuador Airlines established in 1985 1985 establishments in Ecuador