Avianca

Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for "Aerovías del Continente Americano S.A.", Airways of the American Continent) has been the national airline and flag carrier of Colombia since 5 December 1919, when it was initially registered under the name SCADTA. It is headquartered in Bogotá, D.C. with its main hub at El Dorado International Airport. Avianca is also a trademark comprising a group of seven Latin American airlines, whose operations are combined to function as one airline using a code sharing system. Avianca is the largest airline in Colombia and second largest in Latin America. Avianca together with its subsidiaries has the most extensive network of destinations in Latin America. It is wholly owned by Synergy Group S.A., a South American holding company established by Germán Efromovich and specializing in air transport. It is listed on the Colombia Stock Exchange.

Avianca is the world's second oldest airline after KLM, and celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2009, when it was announced that it would merge with TACA. It is the oldest airline in the Western Hemisphere. It became an official member of Star Alliance on 21 June 2012, after a process that lasted approximately 18 months from the initial announcement of their invitation to join the Alliance.

Avianca Brazil

Avianca Brazil (Portuguese: Avianca Brasil), officially Oceanair Linhas Aéreas S/A, is a Brazilian airline based in São Paulo, Brazil. It operates passenger services from 25 destinations. Its main bases are Brasília and São Paulo-Guarulhos airports.

Even though the legal name of the airline remains OceanAir, it has been re-branded as Avianca since it is owned by Synergy Group, which owns Avianca Holdings. Avianca (Colombia) and Avianca Brazil remain separate legal entities. Its CEO is José Efromovich, who is the younger brother of Germán Efromovich.

According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), between January and December 2014 Avianca Brazil had 8.4% of the domestic and 0.08% of the international market shares in terms of passengers per kilometer flown, making it the fourth largest airline in Brazil, after TAM, Gol, and Azul.

History

OceanAir

The airline was established in 1998 as an air taxi company to operate services for oil companies in the Campos Basin. Its name was then OceanAir and began to operate scheduled services in 2002, between São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Macaé and Campos. Soon afterwards, it started to become better known to the public with a flight (no longer operated now) connecting Congonhas Airport in São Paulo and Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro via São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, enabling international passengers from both cities easy access to the country's largest international hub from those cities' smaller but central and more convenient airports. At the time, OceanAir's fare between São Paulo's airports was cheaper than a taxi and on a par with a luxury bus ride.

Avianca Flight 52

Avianca Flight 52 was a regularly scheduled flight from Bogotá to New York, via Medellín that crashed on January 25, 1990, at 21:34 (UTC−05:00). The Boeing 707 flying this route ran out of fuel on approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), resulting in the aircraft crashing onto a hillside in the small village of Cove Neck, New York, on the north shore of Long Island. Eight of the nine crew members and 65 of the 149 passengers on board were killed.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the crash resulted from the flight crew failing to properly declare a fuel emergency, resulting in air traffic control underestimating the seriousness of the situation. The weather, air traffic controller performances, and FAA traffic management were also cited as contributing to the events that led to the accident. This conclusion was controversial, with disagreement between investigators, passengers, and Avianca as to who was ultimately responsible. Eventually, the U.S. Federal Government joined with Avianca to settle damages due to the victims. The crash was also portrayed in a variety of media.