Avianca Costa Rica facts for kids
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| Founded | October 17, 1945 |
|---|---|
| Commenced operations | June 1, 1946 |
| Hubs | Juan Santamaría International Airport |
| Frequent-flyer program | LifeMiles |
| Alliance | Star Alliance (affiliate) |
| Fleet size | 2 |
| Destinations | 16 |
| Parent company | Avianca Group |
| Headquarters | San José, Costa Rica |
| Key people | |
Avianca Costa Rica S.A. is an airline from Costa Rica. It used to be known as LACSA, which stands for Lineas Aéreas Costarricenses S.A. in Spanish. This airline is the main national airline of Costa Rica. Its home base is in San José.
Avianca Costa Rica flies to more than 35 places in Central, North, and South America. Before 2013, it was part of a group called Grupo TACA. After Avianca Group bought Grupo TACA, Avianca Costa Rica became one of several airlines under the Avianca name. Other airlines in this group include Avianca Ecuador and Avianca El Salvador.
Contents
History of Avianca Costa Rica
LACSA was started on October 17, 1945. It got help from another airline called Pan American World Airways. The airline began flying on June 1, 1946. It used Douglas DC-3 planes for flights within Costa Rica.
In 1949, LACSA was chosen as Costa Rica's official national airline. In 1958, the government took over the airline, which is called being nationalized.
From 1960 to 1976, LACSA used Douglas DC-6B planes. These were four-engine propeller planes. They flew regular passenger and cargo flights to Miami. In April 1967, the airline started using its first jet planes, the BAC One-Eleven. These jets flew on routes around the Caribbean.
LACSA also had a smaller airline in the Cayman Islands called Cayman Brac Airways (CBA) Ltd. In the late 1960s, LACSA sold most of its share in CBA to the Cayman Islands government. This helped create Cayman Airways. For many years, LACSA flights between San José and Miami would stop in Grand Cayman.
In 1998, LACSA joined the TACA Airlines group. This group included other airlines like Aviateca from Guatemala and Nica from Nicaragua. In 2008, the airline started using new Embraer 190 jets. A new TACA logo was also introduced that year.
In 2009, Avianca and TACA announced they would join together. By 2013, all the airlines began flying under the single Avianca name.
Destinations
LACSA International Flights in 1973
In 1973, LACSA flew to these international cities:
- Barranquilla, Colombia
- Caracas, Venezuela
- Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
- Maracaibo, Venezuela
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Miami, Florida
- Panama City, Panama
- San Andres Island, Colombia
- San José, Costa Rica - This was the main hub and airline headquarters
- San Salvador, El Salvador
Most of these flights were done using British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven jets. However, the flight to San Andres Island used a Convair 440 propeller plane.
International Flights in 1984
By 1984, LACSA was flying to these international places:
- Barranquilla, Colombia
- Cancun, Mexico
- Caracas, Venezuela
- Guatemala City, Guatemala
- Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Los Angeles, USA
- Maracaibo, Venezuela
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Miami, USA
- New Orleans, USA
- Panama City, Panama
- Quito, Ecuador
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- San Salvador, El Salvador
These flights were operated using LACSA’s Boeing 727 planes.
Fleet (Planes)
Current Planes
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As of May 2023, Avianca Costa Rica uses these planes:
| Aircraft | In service |
Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Y+ | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A320-200 | 1 | — | 12 | 60 | 108 | 180 | |
| Airbus A320neo | 1 | — | |||||
| Total | 2 | — | |||||
Former Planes
LACSA used to fly these types of planes:
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 3 | 2007 | 2022 | |
| Airbus A321-200 | 2 | 2009 | 2021 | |
| BAC One-Eleven | 6 | 1967 | 1982 | |
| Beechcraft 18 | 1 | 1965 | 1976 | |
| Boeing 707-320C | 1 | 1985 | 1986 | Leased from Jet 24 |
| Boeing 727-100 | 3 | 1987 | 1992 | |
| Boeing 727-200 | 5 | 1979 | 1994 | |
| Boeing 737-200 | 8 | 1992 | 2004 | |
| CASA C-212 Aviocar | 1 | 1993 | 1995 | |
| Convair CV-340 | 3 | 1955 | 1962 | |
| Convair CV-440 | 2 | 1972 | 1977 | |
| Curtiss C-46 Commando | 6 | 1948 | 1979 | |
| Douglas C-47 Skytrain | 6 | 1945 | 1961 | |
| Douglas DC-3 | 2 | 1946 | 1959 | |
| Douglas DC-6B | 2 | 1960 | 1977 | |
| Douglas DC-8-21F | 1 | 1981 | 1982 | Leased from General Air Services Inc. |
| Douglas DC-8-55CF | 3 | 1982 | 1991 | |
| Douglas DC-8-62F | 1 | 1986 | 1987 | Leased from Jet 24 |
| Embraer 190AR | 4 | 2008 | 2012 | |
| Lockheed L-188CF Electra | 3 | 1976 | 1981 |
Accidents and Incidents
- On May 23, 1988, a leased Boeing 727-100 plane (registered TI-LRC) was taking off from Juan Santamaría International Airport. It was flying to San José, Managua, and Miami. The plane hit a fence at the end of the runway. It then crashed in a field next to a highway and caught fire. The accident happened because the front of the plane was too heavy. Luckily, no one out of the 23 people on board was hurt.
- On January 11, 1998, LACSA flight 691, an Airbus A320-200, went off the runway at San Francisco International Airport during takeoff. The plane ended up in a muddy field. No one among the 122 passengers was injured. They stayed in a hotel until another plane could take them to their destination, San José, Costa Rica. The reason for this incident was not found.
See Also
In Spanish: Avianca (Costa Rica) para niños
- List of airlines of Costa Rica
