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Compañía Boliviana de Transporte Aéreo Privado Aerosur, S.A., shortened and styled AeroSur, was a privately owned airline from Bolivia, which served as the country's flag carrier since 1998, along with state-owned Boliviana de Aviación. Headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, it operated a network of domestic and international scheduled passenger flights with its hub at the city's Viru Viru International Airport. As of 2010, the airline had 1200 employees.

History

This section needs expansion with: more info about events from 1990 to 2007. You can help by adding to it. (November 2011)

AeroSur was established in April 1992, following the deregulation of the Bolivian airline market, which previously had been controlled by state-owned Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano. Revenue flights on regional routes were commenced on 24 August of that year, using an initial fleet of Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner and British Aerospace 146 aircraft. Over the following years, larger Boeing 727 airliners were acquired, allowing for a growth of network size and passenger numbers.

During the 2000s, AeroSur renewed and expanded its fleet, introducing larger aircraft of the types Boeing 747, Boeing 757 and Boeing 767, which made the inauguration of long-haul flights possible. When Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano went bankrupt in 2007, AeroSur became the largest airline of Bolivia and the only one with intercontinental flights (to Central and North America as well as to Europe). Since 2009, the domestic fleet of ageing 727s is replaced by more modern, though second-hand purchased Boeing 737 Classic airliners.

The subsidiary dubbed AeroSur Paraguay was planned to operate two Boeing 737-200 aircraft of mainline AeroSur. The further development of the project was postponed in mid-2009 pending Paraguayan governmental approval, and later deferred indefinitely.

On 31 March 2012, the airline suspended operations because of unpaid taxes, but resumed all flights on 6 April except for its Madrid route. AeroSur had used a 747 leased from Virgin Atlantic on that route but had returned it to the lessor. The airline plans to resume that route with an ex-Aerolineas Argentinas 747-400. Since then AeroSur has struggled to keep its operations running smoothly and returned its 767 aircraft to the lessor.

On 17 May 2012 AeroSur suspended all its flights again, and other airlines such as state-owned Boliviana de Aviación have since began to fill the void left by AeroSur. The airline is in talks with potential US investor William Petty who has signed a memorandum of understanding to invest up to US$15 million in the Bolivian carrier. AeroSur's air operator's certificate was revoked on 20 July 2012. A group of former employees, as well as William Petty, plan to create a new airline called TU Aerolínea.

Destinations

Fleet

Last fleet

As of November 2011, the AeroSur fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

AeroSur did not operate any dedicated cargo aircraft, but used the cargo holds of its passenger aircraft for network-wide freight transport. Additionally, tourist sightseeing flights were offered on a single Douglas DC-3.

Fleet development

Over the years, AeroSur operated the following aircraft types:

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (November 2011)

Incidents

• On 31 December 1997, an AeroSur Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (registered CP-2321) was substantially damaged when it veered off the runway at Teniente Jorge Henrich Arauz Airport. The two pilots had lost control of the aircraft during take-off run. There were no notable injuries amongst the 18 passengers on board.

Awards and recognitions

• 2008: Named Most Powerful Brand among Bolivian airlines by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
• 2009: Awarded one Bizz Award as Inspiring Company.

References

1. Information about Club AeroSur at aerosur.com Archived December 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
2. "DOE Accepted Carriers." Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Retrieved on January 23, 2011.
3. ^ Information about AeroSur at the Aero Transport Data Bank
4. "Contact Information Archived 2010-01-30 at the Wayback Machine." AeroSur. Retrieved on February 27, 2010. "Central Office Santa Cruz de la Sierra Dirección: Av. Irala # 61"
5. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 50.
6. ^ History of AeroSur at aerosur.com Archived October 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ AeroSur fleet list at airfleets.net
8. ^ "AeroSur". ch-aviation. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
9. AeroSur says that its activities are normal but admits "difficulties" (in Spanish)
10. http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=5L&al_op=1
11. Planespotters.net airline page
12. 1997 incident at the Aviation Safety Network
13. News item about AeroSur receiving a Bizz Award, at hosteltur.com (in Spanish)

External links

[REDACTED] Media related to Aerosur at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website

• Bolivia
• Companies
• Aviation

v t e Airlines of Bolivia
Scheduled	Boliviana de Aviación EcoJet
Cargo	Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos
Defunct	Aerocon AeroSur LaMia Línea Aérea Amaszonas Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano Northeast Bolivian Airways TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar

• Airlines of Bolivia
• Airlines established in 1992
• Airlines disestablished in 2012
• Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association
• Former IATA members
• Defunct airlines of Bolivia