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Lloyd Aereo Boliviano
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB Airlines) is the national airline of Bolivia, based in Cochabamba. LAB operates passenger and cargo services within Bolivia and to international destinations. Its main base is Jorge Wilstermann International Airport, Cochabamba.
History
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano was established on September 15, 1925, when it was founded in Cochabamba by Guillermo Kyllman. The airline's name was Lloyd Aereo Boliviano S.A.. The name was chosen after Lloyd's of London for its image of safety and security (though the two firms are not related). The airline's first airplane, a Junkers F-13, came as a present from the German community in Bolivia. It started operations on 23 September 1925.
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano first flew internationally in July 1930, with planes used by Brazilian airline Syndicato Condor Ltda., between Corumba, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. Lloyd Aereo Boliviano used their own plane on the route from La Paz and Rio de Janeiro, and La Paz to Corumba. With this, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano and Condor Ltda. had a commercial agreement. Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, which was South America's second commercial airline, after Colombia's Avianca, soon increased their flights to the Brazilian destinations, and their fleet began to grow too. During 1932, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano had to lend its planes and personnel to the Bolivian government, to help during the Chaco War (Guerra Del Chaco) with Paraguay.
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano had to be reorganized and was nationalized on 14 May 1941 by the government, and it began a period of growth by means of expansion, new airplanes and destinations. In 1950, the airline was awarded with the Condor de los Andes decoration, given to Bolivian companies by the government.
In 1969, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano joined the jet age, acquiring their first Boeing 727. With jets, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano was allowed to fly to more markets in Central America, to the United States and to Spain.
But in 1994, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano ran into economic trouble, and the government started looking for potential buyers as a general privitization trend. Ultimately, they opened the sale to international buyers, and on October 19 1995, VASP, a Brazilian airline, bought 50% of the company. Subsequently the fleet was painted to resemble that of VASP's, and it introduced a frequent flyer program. But LAB continued to have economic difficulties, and VASP sold its shares of Lloyd back to Bolivian investors in 2001.
In 2004 due to a debt that Ecuatoriana de Aviacion owed LAB, Lloyd got 50% of Ecuatoriana and operated some of its routes under shared codes.
By May 2006, the airline was flying with limited capacity due to its constrained financial situation. The two Boeing 767s had to be returned to the leasing company due to lack of payment. LAB then served Madrid using a L-1011-500 wet-leased from Globe Jet Airlines, and wet-leased a Boeing 757 from North American Airlines, to provide service to Washington, D.C. and Miami, Florida.
A LAB Boeing 727-100 aircraft was used for daily charter flights from Miami to Havana and Camaguey, Cuba and one bi-weekly from New York.
On 30 March 2007, service was suspended by the Bolivian government due to financial problems. The airline was prohibited from selling tickets and operating any scheduled flights until further notice, and all operations were stopped on April 1, 2007.
The search for financial backers and appropriate restructuring continued, with much speculation that the Bolivian government would once more take the company over. On 23 December 2007, Lloyd took to the skies again with two of its Boeing 727s (CP-1367 & 2429) operating charter flights. As of mid-January 2008, the airline is still awaiting the renewal of its commercial licence, but in the meantime is restoring another four of its aircraft to airworthy conditions, with the aim of resuming limited domestic services in February and international in March.
The Bolivian government has since announced the creation of a new airline, Boliviana de Aviacion, to replace Lloyd Aereo Boliviano.
Destinations
Bogota
Buenos Aires
Caracas
Cochabamba
Cordoba
Cusco
Havana
La Paz
Lima
Madrid
Mexico City
Miami
Panama City
Santa Cruz
Santiago de Chile
Sao Paulo
Sucre
Tarija
Washington, D.C.
Fleet
The Lloyd Aereo Boliviano fleet includes the following aircraft (at February 2008) :
4 Boeing 727-200
1 Boeing 737-300
Of its 11 aircraft, eight are stored at the airline's base at Cochabamba, two in Lima, Peru, and one at Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil.
Accidents
1 February 2008 - a LAB Boeing 727 (CP-2429) crash landed in the Amazon 3 miles from Trinidad Airport, Bolivia, after diverting from Cobija due to bad weather. The plane was destroyed, however there were no serious injuries to the 159 passengers and crew on board.
22 December 1994 - a LAB Fokker F-27 was destroyed after overshooting the runway at Guayaramerin Airport after an aborted take-off. There were no fatalities.
Previously operated
Retirements in recent years have included an Airbus A310-300, three Boeing 727-100s, two Boeing 727-200s, a Boeing 727-200 Freighter, a Boeing 737-300 a Fokker F27-200 Friendship and, most recently, the airline's two Boeing 767-300ERs which it had been using for long-haul flights to Madrid, Miami and Washington, D.C.. A good half-dozen Boeing 727-200s are parked at Cochabamba, awaiting spares and funds to fly again. The sole remaining Boeing 737-300 is undergoing maintenance in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Long-haul routes within the Americas such as Miami, Mexico City and Havana (via Panama) and Washington, D.C. (via Miami), are all operated by the perhaps less than ideal Boeing 727-200s, equipped with winglets so as to reduce fuel-burn. The single Boeing 727-100 (CP-861) covered most of Bolivia's domestic routes--up to 16 flights a day--right up until March 5, 2007. She was retired that evening after 37 years of faithful and uninterrupted service with the same carrier, having historically been the most problem-free aircraft of the fleet. No other jetliner has served one airline for so long.
Source: Lloyd Aereo Boliviano
External links
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Lloyd Aereo Boliviano
